ROUTE COMMITTEE Vs. STATE OF WEST BENGAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE appellant is a committee of the association of owners and permit holders of stage carriages in route No. 75 and the different bus routes in Calcutta and greater Calcutta, this committee claims to be interested in road transport and as such it claims to be aggrieved by a Notification issued by the State Government to put in two more buses in route No. 75,

(2.) A Notification dated February 11, 1964, was issued by the Stale Government setting out therein the Draft direction proposed to be issued to the state Transport Authority, West Bengal, in exercise of the powers under S. 43 (1) (iii) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939, The draft direction proposed putting in more buses in several routes, the permits for which are held by members of the appellant's association.

(3.) IT appears that route Nos. 3a and 3b of the Calcutta Region were naitonalised and the permits for running buses on these routes, held by the private owners, were cancelled by an order of the Eegional Transport authority, the effect of this cancellation being that several privately owned buses which were exploiting the said two routes, were taken off the said routes in order to rehabilitate the permit holders whose permits were thus cancelled, the State Government decided to put the buses of these permit holders which became idle, in consequence of the said order of cancellation, in alternative routes, la order to give effect to this,decision the State government issued the said Notification regarding Draft Directions to be issued to the State Transport Authority. The cancellation of the permits was made in exercise of the powers under s. 68f of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939, and it became effective from March 5, 1962. The draft direction set out in the said Notification is as follows:-"the State Transport Authority, West Bengal, is hereby directed to issue direction to the Regional transport Authorities of the Regions named in column (2) of the schedule below to grant stage carriage permits for alternative routes in accordance with the distribution list indicated in the schedule below, to persons whose permits for stage carriage for routes Nos, 3a and 3b of Calcutta Region have been cancelled with effect from the 5th march, 1962, by an order of the regional Transport Authority of the said Region under clause (b)of sub-section (2) of section 68f of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939 (Act 4 of 1939), in pursuance of the scheme approved ;by the State government under sub-section (3)of section 68 D of the said Act and published under notification No. 343-WT/b-71/61, dated the 17th January 1962, in the Calcutta Gazette extraordinary', dated the 17th January, 1962, on receipt of necessary applications from them and subject to fulfilment oi all other conditions as are required to be fulfilled under the provisions at the Motor Vehicles act, 1939 (Act 4 of 1939),"