GODIKA TRANSPORT CO Vs. T A T JAIPUR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THESE are two writ petitions under Article 226 of the Constitution of India wherein it has been prayed that the order of the T. A. T. dated 22 8 1969 be quashed and any other writ, direction or order which may be appropriate be passed in the case.

(2.) BOTH the petitions involve common questions of law and fact and learned counsel for the parties agree that a decision in one case will govern the other case also. As the arguments have been addressed in M/s Godika Transport Go. vs. T. A. T. Jaipur & Other's case ( S. B. Civil Writ Petition No. 1217/69 ) I will give facts from that case only for appreciating the points involved in both the writ petitions. M/s Godika Transport Co. , is a registered partnership firm. The said firm submitted an application for grant of non-temporary public carrier permit on 11-3-1968 to the regional Transport Authority Jaipur for All Rajasthan and Gujarat State. The said petition was published in the Rajasthan Rajpatra dated 25 4-1968 inviting objections in respect thereof within 30 days of the date of such publication. Non-petitioners Nos. 3 and 4 viz. Bahari Goods Carrier Private Limited and Chittar Mal Yadav also submitted applications for erant of non-temporary public carriers' permit besides several other persons. All the aforesaid applications came up for consideration before the Regional Transport Authority Jaipur hereinafter called the R. T. A. in its meeting dated 13th August, 1968. The R. T. A. rejected the application of M/s Bahari Goods Carrier Private Limited on the ground that they were not the resident of the State of Rajasthan. The application of non-petitioner Chittar Mal Yadav was also rejected by the R. T. A. But the R. T. A. granted permits to M/s Godika Transport Company and Sarbjeet Singh in view of the two existing vacancies. M/s Bahari Goods Carrier Private Limited and Shri Chittar Mal Yadav felt aggrieved by the order of the R. O. T. A. and, therefore, they moved the Transport Appellate Tribunal hereinafter called the T. A. T. by way of appeal. The T. A. T. set aside the order of the R. T. A. granting permits to both the petitioners and instead granted permits to M/s Bahari Goods Carrier Private Limited and Shri Chittar Mal Yadav respectively. The reasons which persuaded the T. A. T. for acception, the appeal were mainly two. Firstly, the T. A. T. relied upon the Ministry of Transport inter-statal transport Commission order No. 9/istc (96)62 dated 3rd of October, 1968, wherein it was enjoined upon the Transport Authorities to observe the rule that the permits in regard to regular public carrier for inter-statal routes exceeding 300 miles in length between two terminal points in different States shall henceforth be granted by the S. T. As/r. T. As subject to the essential condition that the owner shall own at least 5 public carriers and shall forfeit the permit if during the period for which the permit is granted he ceases to own five vehicles. It was observed by the T. A. T. that as the petitioners before me did not fulfil this essential requirement of the inter-statal transport Commission's order they were not eligible to the permits asked for by them, as in the view of the learned T. A. T. it was an essential condition precedent for granting the permit to any of the applicants. Another reason which prevailed with the learned T. A. T. was that the applications of both the petitioners before me suffer from serious infirmity as they were not accompanied by the requisite permit fee as required under R. 89 of the Rajasthan Motor Vehicles Rules, hereinafter called the Rules. On these two grounds the learned T. A. T. set aside the permits granted in favour of the petitioners and instead granted them to M/s Bahari Goods Carrier Private Ltd. and Shri Chittar Mal Yadav. It is in these circumstances that the petitioners have come before me and challenged the order of the T. A. T. as being illegal and erroneous on the face of it.