Judgement

RAMASWAMI, J. :- These appeals are brought by special leave from the judgment of the Mysore High Court dated October 27, l967 dismissing Writ Petitions Nos. l720 and 1722 of 1964.

2. The appellants are transport operators plying a stage carriage on the route Yadgir to Narayanapet on the strength of permits issued by the Regional Transport Authority Gulbarga. The route Yadgir to Narayanapet is an inter-State route of a distance of 28 miles out of which a portion of 5 miles is situated in the State of Andhra Pradesh and the rest is in the State of Mysore. A draft scheme was prepared by the second respondent, Mysore State Road Transport Corporation under Section 68-C of the Motor Vehicles Act, proposing to take over the Stage Carriage Services on the inter-State route Yadgir to Narayanapet to the complete exclusion of other operators. The draft scheme was published in the Gazette on June 21, 1962. The appellants and some others filed their objections against the proposed scheme. The objections were heard by the Chief Minister of the State of Mysore under Section 68-D of the Motor Vehicles Act and the draft scheme was approved with certain modifications by his order dated March 7, 1964. The approval of the Central Government was later on accorded under the proviso to sub-section (3) of Section 68-D of the Motor Vehicles Act. The approved scheme made two modifications to the draft scheme. The first was that it specified the minimum number of vehicles and daily services. The second modification was that it restricted the exclusion of other operators only to that part of the route which was in the State of Mysore. The approved scheme was published by the Government of Mysore in its Gazette dated July, 16, 1964. The appellant moved the High Court of Mysore for grant of a writ under Article 226 of the Constitution to quash the notification of the Mysore Government dated July 16, 1964 approving the final scheme. The main ground of challenge was that the approved scheme violated the provisions of Section 20 of the Road Transport Corporations Act, 1950 (Act 64 of 1950). It was also contended that there was an infringement of the requirements of Section 68-C and Section 68-E of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939 (Act 4 of 1939) as modified by Act 100 of 1956, but the writ applications were dismissed by the High Court by its judgment dated October 27, 1967

3. Chanter IV-A was inserted in the Motor Vehicles Act (Act 4 of 1939) by the Amending Act 100 of 1956 with effect from February 16, 1957. Section 68-C which is incorporated in Chapter IV-A reads:

"Where any State transport undertaking is of opinion that for the purpose of providing an efficient, adequate, economical and properly co-ordinated road transport service, it is necessary in the public interest that road transport services in general or any particular class of such service in relation to any area or route or portion thereof should be run and operated by the State transport undertaking, whether to the exclusion, complete or partial, of other persons or otherwise, the State transport undertaking may prepare a scheme giving particulars of the nature of the services proposed to be rendered, the area or route proposed to be covered and such other particulars respecting thereto as may be prescribed and shall cause every such scheme to be published in the Official Gazette and also in such other manner as, the State Government may direct." Section 68-D provides as follows :

"(1) Any person affected by the scheme published under section 68-C may, within thirty days from the date of the publication of the scheme in the Official Gazette, file objections thereto before the State Government.

(2) The State Government may, after considering the objections and after giving an opportunity to the objector or his representatives and the representatives of the State transport undertaking to be heard in the matter, if they so desire, approve or modify the scheme.

(3) The scheme as approved or modified