BISHWANATH NAG Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner is an applicant for grant of a stage permit and has challenged the validity of the State Government's decision issued under S.43A of the Motor Vehicles Act as contained in Annexure-3. The impugned annexure limits the eligibility of a family to a single road permit.

(2.) In response to an advertisement by the East Bihar Regional Transport Authority inviting applications for grant of a road permit for the route Dumka to Mihijam, the petitioner made an application. The same was rejected on the ground that the petitioner had already been granted three permits. The petitioner appealed before the State Transport Appellate Tribunal. The Tribunal remanded the matter for reconsideration by the Regional Transport Authority. The petitioner contended before the Authority that he had already surrendered two of the permits and was thus within the permissible limit fixed in regard to the issuance of road permits. The Authority dismissed his application again by the order as contained in Annexure-2. The petitioner appealed to the Tribunal again. The Tribunal did not agree with the reasonings of the Transport Authority in dismissing the petitioner's application, but refused to remand the matter for a fresh consideration on the ground that the petitioner who had a stage permit from before could not get another permit in view of the State Government's decision, as contained in Annexure-3 to the writ petition. In the impugned annexure, the State Government directed that a family consisting of husband, wife and their minor children will not be allowed more than one stage permit. The Tribunal accordingly dismissed the appeal by its order in Annexure-4. By the present writ application, the petitioner has prayed for holding the Government's direction in Annexure-3 as ultra vires and for quashing the orders in Annexures-2 and 4.

(3.) Mr. Amla Kant Chaudhary, appearing in support of the application contended that the powers of the Transport Authorities in dealing with the applications for road permits is judicial in nature and the State Government has no jurisdiction to entrench upon the quasi judicial functions of the Transport Authorities and the direction in Annexure-3 is therefore, illegal. Reliance was placed on several decisions of the Supreme Court.