There is no right of appeal under Sec. 64 of the Motor Vehicles Act against the order of the Regional Transport Authority fixing timings of stage carriages.

1. This application is made on behalf of the petitioner, Sukhdeo Kumar, for grant of a writ in the nature of certiorari under Article 226 of the Constitution for calling up and quashing the order of the Appeal Board of the State Transport Authority, dated 30-4-1958, by which the Appeal Board allowed the appeal and set aside the order of the Regional Transport Authority fixing timings for various operators on the Purnea-Rupauli route.

2. It was submitted by learned Counsel on behalf of the petitioner that the order of the Appeal Board is without jurisdiction because there was no right of appeal provided under Sec. 64 of the Motor Vehices Act against the order of the Regional Transport Authority fixing the timings of arrival and departure of stage carriages. It was submitted on behalf of the petitioner that this case is governed by the ratio decidendi of the decision of this High Court in Phulchand Ram V/s. State of Bihar, Misc. Judl. Case No. 163 of 1957, D/- 14-1-1959 (Pat) where an exactly similar point of law arose and in which it was held that the State Transport Authority has no jurisdiction to set aside on appeal an order of the Regional Transport Authority fixing the timings of arrival and departure of stage carriage service.

Learned Counsel also referred in support of his argument to the decision of a Division Bench of the Madras High Court consisting of Rajamannar, C. J. and Venkatarama lyer, J. in Kali Mudaliar V/s. Vedachala Mudaliar, AIR 1952 Mad 545 and also to the decision of a Full Bench of Rajasthan High Court in Jairamdas V/s. Regional Transport, (S) AIR 1957 Raj 312. On behalf of opposite party No. 4 it was contended, however, by Mr. Baldeva Sahai that there has been an amendment of Section 48 of the Motor Vehicles Act by Act 100 of 1956, and as there is a change of language between the amended and un-amended section, the point requires further consideration. We do not accept this argument as right. Section 48 of the Act as it stood before the amendment made by Act 100 of 1950 was in the following terms: "48. Power to restrict the number of stage carriages and impose conditions on stage carriage permits. -- A Regional Transport Authority may, after consideration of the matters set forth in Sub-section (1) of Sec. 47, -- (a) limit the number of stage carriages or stage carriages of any specified type for which stage carriage permits may be granted in the region or in any specified area or any specified route within the region;

(b) issue a stage carriage permit in respect of a particular stage carriage or a particular service of stage carriages;

(c) regulate timings of arrival or departure of, stage carriages whether they belong to a single or more owners; or

(d) attach to a stage carriage permit any prescribed condition or any one or more of the following conditions, namely :-

- (i) that the service specified in the permit shall be commenced not later than a specified date and be continued for a specified period;

(ii) that the service may be varied only in accordance with specified conditions;

(iia) that the stage carriage or stage carriages shall be used only on specified routes or in a specified area;

(iii) that copies of the fare table and time table shall be exhibited on the stage carriage and that the fare table and time table so exhibited shall be observed;

(iv) that not more than a specified number of passengers and not more than a specified amount of luggage shall be carried on any specified vehicle at one time;

(v) that within municipal limits and in such other areas and places as may be prescribed passengers shall not be taken up or set down at or except at specified points; or

(vi) that tickets shall be issued to passengers for the fares paid."

After the amendment Sec. 48(3) reads as follows: "48. (3) The Regional Transport Authority, if it decides to grant a stage carriage permit, may grant) the permit for a service of stage carriage of a specified description or for one or more particular s