JUDGMENT :

1. The petitioners are bus operators on various routes between Purnea and Kishengunge. The said routes pass both within the jurisdiction of the States of Bihar and West Bengal. The present challenge has been preferred against a draft Notification dated May 16, 2014 and a final Reciprocal Transport Agreement dated February 22, 2016, both published in the Kolkata Gazette by the Principal Secretary, Transport Department, Government of West Bengal.

2. The petitioners’ primary contention is that the said draft agreement, which ripened into the final Reciprocal Transport Agreement, are violative of the provisions of Section 88 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (hereinafter referred to as, “the 1988 Act”). In respect of the locus standi of the petitioners to file the writ petition, the petitioners place reliance on a Special Bench judgment of this Court in Prabhat Pan and others Vs. The State of West Bengal and others, reported at AIR 2015 Cal 112, wherein it was held that the existing operator has a right to raise objection against the illegal, arbitrary grant of permit by the Transport Authority, more so, in respect of grants of permit which are affected by colourable exercise of