A stage carriage was registered with a seating capacity of fifty eight initially. Its owner now wishes to have the seating capacity reduced to thirty nine. The Registering Authority, before whom petitioner applied for permission to reduce the seats, declined to grant permission (vide Ext. P6). This Original Petition is in challenge of Ext. P6.

2. Petitioner got his stage carriage registered on 29-9-1986. Petitioner has been operating service with the said vehicle ever since that. It has been noted in the certificate of registration of the vehicle (vide Ext. P1) that its seating capacity is fifty eight. In 1990, petitioner obtained a regular stage carriage permit for conducting a town service on the route Chavara-Elampalloor. Then petitioner approached the Registering Authority for permission to reduce the seating capacity of the vehicle, but request was then rejected as per Ext. P4 order. This court quashed Ext. P4 as petitioner challenged it in O.P. 11983/91 of this Court. Learned single judge, who disposed of the Original Petition, found that the Registering Authority had not exercised his discretion legally or for valid reasons. Registering Authority again considered