The Government has the authority to prescribe the appellate authority and the manner in which that authority should be constituted under Sections 64 and 68(2)(j) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939, and the power conferred on the Chairman of the State Transport Authority to choose two members from among the members of the State Transport Authority to constitute the appellate authority is not a sub-delegation of power.

( 1 ) THESE eight writ petitions raise a common question of law, namely, whether riles 189 and 190 of the A. P. Motor Vehicles Rules 1964 made under Sec 64 read with Sec. 68 (j) of the Motor Vehicles as Act (4 of 1939) are ultra vires the powers of the Government and must therefore be struck down. Apart from this, in Writ Petition No. 749/65, there are certain other questions which require determination on the facts and merits of that particular case. It is therefore necessary to set out the facts in that writ petition.

( 2 ) THE petitioner therein is a transport operator in Chittoor District having 6 tage-carriage permits, to ply motor buses in Chittoor district. He has a well- equipped workshop and has been in the field as an operator of motor busks for 20 years. The Road Transport Authority called for applications for grant of a stage carriage permit on the route Chittoor to Salem, which is a long distance route, by its notification No. 14992/a1/62 pursuant to which 28 applications were filed, the petitioner being No. 16 of the applicants, and the 4th respondent is applicant Nos. 9 and 10. After notifying these applicatins under sec. 57 (3) of the Act, the matter was considered by the Regional Transport Authority, chittoor, at its meeting held on 30-11-1963, and after evaluating the lespectiye claims granted the pa-mit to the petitioner, on the ground that he is an existing operator with a common sector for a distance of 72 miles for three of his buses from Kuppam, and had experience as transport operator for a great length of time.

( 3 ) THE claims of the 4th respondent K. Ramachandra Naidu, was negatived, principally on the ground that he gave two different addresses to claim higher marks and that he had no sector qualification. Against these proceedings of the Road transport Authority Chittoor, 7 of the unsuccessful applicants, including the 4th respondent, preferred appeals to the Appellate Authority, Andhra Pradesh, hyderabad. The Appellate Authority which considered the appeals at its meeting held on 23-11-1964, set aside the grant made in favour of the petitioner and allowed the appeal of the 4th respondent on the ground that he is a better operator than the petitioner. It is a averred in the affidavit that the considerations which weighed with the Road Transport Authorify in granting the permit to him were not taken into account by the appellate authority; nor was it taken into consideration that the 4th respondent entered the Transport field only in 1954 and was granted more than 45 permits, while the petitioner with bis experience since over two decades was not granted any permit, that the 4th respondent is a resident of Tirupati while the petitioner is a resident of Chittoor and while the petitioner has a sector for 3 of his buses, the 4th respondent has no common sector on the date of the grant, and that there was stoppage or sevvice of the buses of the 4th respondent on several occasions which, showed that he cannot be an efficient operator against the proceedings of the Appellate Authority, revision petitions under Sec. 64a of the Madras Amendment to the Motor Vehicles Act, were preferred urging several grounds stated in the memorandum; but the Government by its G. O. No. 1993 Home (Transport II) Department, dated 3-6-1965, rejected the revision petitions.

( 4 ) IN this, as well as in the other writ petitions, the common contentions urged are: (1) The power to constitute an Appellate Authority under sec,64 read with Sec. 68 (j) of the Act, does not empower the Government to delegate to any authority the function of constituting that authority, which is in fact what has been done by virtue of rules 189 and 190. In exercise of the powers conferred, by these rules, the Chairman of the State Transport Authority constituted two appellate authorities, for the Andhra area consisting of himself, the Com missioner of Police and a non-official member, and for the Telangana area consistingof himself. t