NATHULAL Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These three writ petitions arise out of similar facts and circumstances and similar questions of law are raised therein and as such I propose to dispose them of by a common order.

(2.) The petitioner in each one of the three writ petitions, was an existing operator, plying his vehicle on a non-temporary stage carriage permit on AsindDeo- garh route in the State of Rajasthan. The State Transport Undertaking, known as Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation (hereinafter called as 'the Corporation') published a proposed scheme of nationalisation under Section 68-C of the Motor Vehicles Act (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act') in respect of Udaipur--Beawar via Kailashpuri, Delwara, Nath-dwara, Kankroli, Gomti Daver- Kamlighat Choraha-Kamlighat, Deogarh, Barar, Bhim and Jasakhera route (hereinafter referred to as 'the notified route) and portions thereof. The proposed draft scheme of nationalisation was published by the Corporation vide its notification dated January 3, 1973 in the Rajasthan Gazette Extraordinary dated January 6, 1973. By the aforesaid notification all persons affected by the proposed draft scheme of nationalisation were required to file objections, if any, before the Secretary to the Government of Rajasthan in the Transport Department, within thirty days of the date of the publication of the aforesaid notification in the Rajasthan Gazette. It is the admitted case of the parties that none of the three petitioners filed any objections in accordance with the aforesaid notification, within thirty days of the publication of the draft scheme of nationalisation in the Rajasthan Gazette or at any time even thereafter. The objections received in respect of the aforesaid draft scheme of nationalisation were thereafter considered by the Joint Legal Remembrancer No. 2, Government of Rajasthan, for and on behalf of the State Government, under Section 68-D (2) of the Act and the aforesaid proposed draft scheme of nationalisation was approved by him by order dated February 15, 1974. The approved scheme of nationalisation relating to the notified route was published in the Rajasthan Gazette dated February 16, 1974 under Section 68-D (3) of the Act. According to the aforesaid draft scheme and the approved scheme of nationalisation, the petitioners were to be excluded from plying their vehicles on the notified route or any portion thereof, as the scheme was one of total exclusion of private operators and it was provided therein that no person, whether plying his passenger vehicle on the whole or portion of the route specified in Clause (2) of the Scheme or overlapping whole or any portion of such route, would be allowed to ply his passenger transport vehicle on the whole or any portion of the route or overlapping whole or any portion thereof. In other words, only the Corporation would be entitled to ply its passenger transport vehicles on the notified route or portions thereof. The Regional Transport Authority, Udaipur (hereinafter referred to as 'the R.T.A.') in pursuance of the aforesaid approved scheme of nationalisation, intimated to the petitioners by its order dated August 3, 1974 that the route of the permits of the three petitioners would stand curtailed from Deogarh to Bhim, a portion 35 Kilometres long, on the ground that it overlapped the notified route.

(3.) The petitioners have challenged in this Court, by means of separate writ petitions, the aforesaid approved scheme of nationalisation relating to the notified route as well as the order passed by the R.T.A. curtailing the route of the petitioners' permits from Deogarh to Bhim, in pursuance of or in implementation of the approved scheme of nationalisation relating to the notified route. Learned counsel for the petitioners confined his submissions before me to two matters only.