BALASORE TRANSPORT Vs. STATE OF ORISSA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS Writ Petition was heard and Judgment was rendered by this Court on 7.12.2007 whereby the Writ Petition was allowed to the extent that the notification dated 28.2.2006 was set aside by this Court for the reasons disclosed in the said Writ Petition. The said Judgment was, however, delivered when nobody appeared for the State and no counter affidavit was filed. The Writ Petition was heard on the basis of averments in the Writ Petition and on the basis of some representation by Opposite Party No. 2 -Orissa Bridge Construction Corporation Ltd , who are merely collecting agents.

(2.) AFTER the Writ Petition was heard and Judgment was delivered several review petitions were filed, one of them was by one Kartik Chandra Mahakud, who was not a party to the Writ Petition. On such review petitions being filed, this Court, for the reasons, stated in the Order Dated 18.1.2008, in Review Petition No. 1 of 2008, held that the matter should be re -heard and the Judgment dated 7.12.2007 was recalled.

(3.) WHEN the matter was heard once again, Learned Counsel for the State has taken an objection that the Writ Petition which is filed as a PIL is not maintainable. The Learned Counsel for the State contended that the Writ Petition has been filed by five Petitioners. Of them, Petitioner Nos. 1 and 5 are associations and there is no averment in the Writ Petition whether Petitioner Nos. 1 and 5 are registered associations. Petitioner Nos. 2, 3 and 4 are private individuals. In answer to the said objection, in the rejoinder affidavit it has been stated that Balasore Transport Coordination Committee -Writ Petitioner No. 1 is a registered society, but it has not been stated whether the lorry association -Writ Petitioner No. 5 is a registered society or not. It was submitted that this Public Interest Litigation has been filed by the Petitioners for protecting their commercial and business interest and for that no Public Interest Litigation can be filed.