Judgment

GROVER, J. :- These appeals by certificate arise out of a common judgment of the Madras High Court given in a number of writ petitions filed before it by various stage carriage operators.

2. The facts have been set out in detail in the judgment of the High Court and need be stated only briefly. The policy of nationalisation of passenger bus transport in the State of Madras (Now Tamil Nadu) was laid down by the Government Order dated June 7, 1967. Under that order all routes of 75 miles and above, all routes radiating or terminating in Madras City and all routes in the Kanyakumari District were to be nationalised as and when the permits of the private operators expired. By the Government Order dated June 17, 1967 a committee was constituted for implementing the above decision. A draft scheme was prepared by the committee for nationalising the routes in question to the complete elimination of private operators. This scheme was published under S. 68-C of the Motor Vehicles Act 1939, hereinafter called the Act . A number of writ petitions were filed in the High Court in 1967 challenging the validity of the draft scheme. That scheme was struck down by the High Court. Thereafter