Judgment

AYYANGAR, J. : (For himself and Gajendragadkar and Wanchoo, JJ.) The two Civil Appeals are by special leave of this Court and the two Writ Petitions have been filed by the respective appellants seeking the same relief as in the appeals, the relief sought being the setting aside of orders passed by the Chief Commissioner of Pondicherry as the State Transport appellate authority (under the Motor Vehicles Act). All these four have been heard together because of a common point raised regarding the jurisdiction of this Court to entertain the appeals and the petitions.

2. It is manifest that the preliminary point about the jurisdiction of this Court should have first to be considered before dealing with the merits of the contentions raised in the appeals and petitions. It might be convenient to state a few facts to appreciate the context in which the questions debated before us arise and the point concerned in the order now passed.

3. Sivarama Reddiar the appellant in Civil Appeal 43 of 1961 and the petitioner in Writ Petition 298 of 1960, is a citizen of India and is engaged in the business of motor transport. By a notification dated December 27, 1958 in the official gazette of Pondicherry the State Transport Commission of Pondicherry invited applications for the grant of stage carriage permits to be submitted before February 27, 1959, including the route from Pondicherry to Karaikal, the latter being another former French possession. In response to this notification, Sivarama Reddiar as well as one Gopal Pillai who is the second respondent to the appeal and the second respondent in the Writ Petition were two of the 19 persons who made applications for the grant of this permit to them. Before the State Transport Commission dealt with these applications, the Government of India in the exercise of its powers under S. 4 of the Foreign Jurisdiction Act. 1947 published a notification in the Official Gazette of Pondicherry extending the provisions of the Indian Motor Vehicles Act, 1939 as in force in Delhi to Pondicherry with effect from June 19, 1959. Rules 3(4) and 4 of this order promulgated under the Foreign Jurisdiction Act provided:

"3 (4) Any Court, tribunal or authority required or empowered to enforce the said Act in Pondicherry may for the purpose of facilitating its application in relation to Pondicherry construe the said Act with such alteration not affecting the substance as may be necessary or proper with respect to the matter before the Court, tribunal or authority, as the case may be."

4. Rule 4 effected a repeal of existing Laws in these terms:

"Repeal of existing laws: All laws in force in Pondicherry immediately before the commencement of the Order which correspond to the Act and the rules, notifications and Orders applied to Pondicherry by this order shall, except in so far as such laws relate to the levy of any fee, cease to have effect, save as respects things done or omitted to be done before such commencement On July 21, 1959, the Chief Commissioner of Pondicherry, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by S. 44 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939 constituted a State Transport Authority for Pondicherry. The State Transport Authority, Pondicherry thus created issued a notification on August 1,1959 by which it required persons who had applied for State Carriage permits in response to the notification dated December 2 7, 1958 to furnish particulars with regard to a number of matters which were relevant for being considered for the grant of a Stage Carriage permit under the Motor Vehicles Act. Both the appellant-petitioner Sivarama Reddiar as well as inter alia the respondent Gopal Pillai furnished the required particulars. The particulars supplied by the parties were checked and verified by designated authorities and thereafter the State Transport Authority by an order on April 30, 1960 directed the grant of the permit to the appellant-petitioner Sivarama Reddiar rejecting the claims of all others including the re