Judgment

BEG, J.:- We will detail facts leading up to the five Civil Appeals, which were heard together, before formulating and deciding the common questions of law raised by them.

2. Civil Appeal No. 1402 of 1974 arises out of fourteen applications, including that of the appellant before us, Ajantha Transports (P) Ltd., which were considered on 29-12-1971 by the Regional Transport Authority, Coimbatore for the grant of a stage carriage permit to ply an additional bus on the route from Coimbatore to Sathyamangal via Koilpalayam and some other places. Five of these were rejected on the preliminary ground that the prescribed fees had not been paid. One was withheld from consideration for want of Income-tax Clearance certificate. One applicant was found Disqualified, under Sec. 62-A (c) of the Motor Vehicles Act as amended by the Tamil Nadu Amendment Act 16 of 1971, because he already had more than ten permits. Out of the remaining seven applicants the highest scorer, according to the marking system adopted by the Regional Transport Authority of the region, was one Palaniappa Gounder who obtained nine marks. But, Gounder was "bypassed" in favour of the appellant who secured 8.69 marks