Judgment

BHAGWATI, J.: - There were fifteen applicants before the Regional Transport Authority, Chingleput for grant of a stage carriage permit to ply a bus on the route Red Hills to Kancheepuram. This route covers a distance of 50 1/2 miles or 81.27 kilometers and is a long route within the meaning of that expression as used in Rule 155A of the Motor Vehicles Rules, 1940. Out of fifteen applicants only two are before us namely the appellant and the respondent. The appellant was applicant No. 7, while the respondent was applicant No. 6. The Regional Transport Authority, after considering the applications, made an order dated 19th June, 1971 granting the permit to the respondent, though on marking according to the provisions contained in clause (3) of Rule 155A, the respondent obtained only 7.40 marks as against 9.00 marks obtained by the appellant. The main ground on which the Regional Transport Authority preferred the respondent to the appellant was that the respondent was a single bus operator, while the appellant was a multi bus operator having four stage carriage permits including a stage carriage permit recently granted to him.

2. The appellant and seven other applicants, who were aggrieved by the decision of the Regional Transport Authority, granting a permit to the respondent, preferred appeals before the State Transport Appellate Tribunal impleading the respondent as the opposite party in the appeals. The State Transport Appellate Tribunal took the view that at the date of the consideration of the applications by the Regional Transport Authority, the respondent had a workshop but it was housed only in a thatched shed and not in a pucca fire proof building and the respondent was, therefore, not entitled to two marks under clause (3) (E) of Rule 155A and his total marks should, therefore, have been 5.40 and not 7.40. The Regional Transport Authority had refused to grant two marks to the appellant on account of sector qualification on the ground that he had been plying only on temporary permits but this view did not find favour with the State Transport Appellate Tribunal which held that under clause (3) (C) of Rule 155A it was immaterial whether sector experience was derived by an applicant under a temporary permit or a permanent permit and the appellant was, therefore, entitled to two marks under that clause on account of sector experience even though gained by operation on temporary permits. So far as the past record was concerned, the State Transport Appellate Tribunal relied heavily on the fact that the history sheet of the appellant was clean without any adverse entry while the respondent had one adverse entry in the history sheet relating to his single stage carriage and four adverse entries in the history sheet relating to his lorry operation. The State Transport Appellate Tribunal also pointed out that a portion of the route fell within the interior roads and it was, therefore, desirable in public interest to prefer "an experienced operator instead of single bus operator", Having regard to these considerations the State Transport Appellate Tribunal set aside the order of the Regional Transport Authority granting permit to the respondent. The State Transport Appellate Tribunal then proceeded to consider who amongst the appellants before it deserved to be granted permit. After considering the claims of the appellants before it, the State Transport Appellate Tribunal took the view that since the appellant had higher m-arks which reflected his superior qualifications and was an experienced operator with a clean history sheet, he was entitled to be preferred to the other appellants and in this view, the State Transport Appellate Tribunal, by an order dated 23rd September, 1972, granted permit to the appellant.

3. The respondent thereupon preferred a revision application to the High Court under Section 64B (T.N.) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939 The learned Single Judge, who heard the revision application, held that the S