JUDGMENT

CHINNAPPA REDDY, J. :— The Path of nationalisation of Motor Bus transport can hardly be said to have been smooth in the State of Uttar Pradesh, The cases now before us illustrate this point. To take an example, the route Lucknow to Kanpur was notified under the Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Act of 1931. The effect of the Notification was to totally exclude private operators from plying their State Carriages on the whole or any part of the route, Lucknow to Kanpur. But the Uttar Pradesh Act No. 2 of 1951 and the Notification were struck down by this Court in Saghir Ahmed v. State of U. P. AIR 1954 SC 728. However, the Uttar Pradesh Legislature enacted Uttar Pradesh Act No. 9 of 1955, by Sections 19 and 20 of which the Notifications issued under the Uttar Pradesh Act No. 2 of 1951 were revalidated with effect from June 18, 1951. Hindustan Transport Company and Smt. Chunni Devi the petitioners in writ petitions Nos. 76 and 77 of 1979 held permits to ply State Carriages between Hardoi and Unnao. Unnao is a station between Lucknow and Kanpur. In 1972, the petitioners obtained an extension of their permits enabling them to run their State Carriages on the route Hardoi-Unnao