Judgment

VENKATARAMIAH, J.:- The short point which arises for consideration in this case is whether without a prior agreement between two or more Regional Transport Authorities through which an inter-regional route passes it is open to any one of the said Regional Transport Authorities to grant a permit to ply a stage carriage on the said inter-regional route under the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939 (hereinafter referred to as the Act).

2. After the opening of the Mahatama Gandhi Sethu, connecting South Bihar and North Bihar by road there was a great need for granting permits to operate stage carriage services between places which are situated in North Bihar and the places in South Bihar. Therefore, in order to satisfy the demand of the travelling public, the North Bihar Regional Transport Authority issued an advertisement inviting applications for granting stage carriage permits in respect of inter-regional routes connecting certain places situated within its jurisdiction and certain other places which are situated within the jurisdiction of South Bihar Regional Transport Authority. A number of applications were received for the grant of the permits on the said inter-regional routes. The North Bihar Regional Transport Authority issued notices to all the persons concerned stating that the said applications would be taken up for consideration at its meeting to be held on 7th April, 1988. The petitioner who was operating some stage carriages on some of the inter-regional routes filed a writ petition in C.W.J.C. No. 2063 of 1988 on the file of the High Court of Patna questioning the power of the North Bihar Regional Transport Authority to grant permits on the inter-regional routes without a prior agreement between it and the South Bihar Regional Transport Authority and obtained an order of stay of the said proceedings from the High Court on 6th April, 1988 pending disposal of the writ petition. The writ petition was heard by the High Court on 3-5-1988* and it was dismissed. Aggrieved by the order of the High Court the petitioner has filed this petition.

* Reported in (1988) 27 Reports 225 (Patna).

3. When the writ petition was filed before the High Court the petitioner did not implead the applicants who had made applications for the grant of stage carriage permits. The applicants, however, appeared before the High Court as interveners and made their submissions. They contended that the writ petition was liable to be dismissed since they (the applicants for permits) had not been impleaded as parties and that the contention of the petitioner that a prior agreement between the two Regional Transport Authorities was necessary before any one of them could grant a permit was erroneous. The High Court has upheld both the contentions.

4. Under S. 45(1) of the Act every application for a permit has to be made to the Regional Transport Authority of the region in which it is proposed to use the vehicle or vehicles but if it is proposed to use the vehicle or vehicles in two or more regions lying within the same State, the application has to be made to the Regional Transport Authority of the region in which the major portion of the proposed route or area lies, and in case the portion of the proposed route or area in each of the regions is approximately equal, to the Regional Transport Authority of the region in which it is proposed to keep the vehicle or vehicles. The applications for stage carriage permit should contain the particulars required to be furnished under S. 46 of the Act. Section 57 of the Act provides for the procedure to be followed for granting permits. On receipt of an application for a stage carriage permit the Regional Transport Authority should make the application available for inspection at the office of the Authority and is also required to publish the application or the substance thereof in the prescribed manner together with a notice of the date before which representations in connection therewith may be submit