JUDGMENT :

(Pushpendra Singh Bhati, J.)

The lawyers are abstaining from the work, due to strike.

2. This writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India has been preferred claiming the following reliefs:

(1) That the respondent no.3 State Transport Authority, Jaipur may very kindly be directed to forthwith cancel 5 additional services granted to the respondent no.4 on Bikaner-Nokha Via Desnokh notified route no.203 vide order dated 7.11.2017 (Annex. 5) passed by the State Transport Authority, Jaipur.

(2) That 5 additional services sanctioned in the permit of the respondent no.4 on Bikaner-Nokha via Desnokh notified route no. 203 vide order dated 07.11.2017 (Annex. 5) may very kindly be forthwith cancelled.

(3) Any other order which this court thinks, just and proper may be passed in favour of the petitioner.

(4) Cost of the writ petition may also kindly be awarded in favour of the petitioner".

3. As the pleaded facts and the record would reveal, the State Government, while de-nationalizing all the notified routes, in the best interest of the public at large, proposed to allow the private operators to operate their vehicles on the notified schemes, and for that purpose, a Notification dated 01.10.2014 came to be published in the Rajasthan Gazette, in exercise of the powers conferred by section 102 of the MOTOR VEHICLES ACT , 1988, proposing to modify all the schemes.

3.1 After receiving and considering the objections submitted by all the stake-holders, including the State Transport Undertaking, the State Government made the modifications in all the schemes vide Notification dated 29.05.2015 permitting the private operators to pay for hire or reward stage carriages on the routes specified in the concerned scheme(s), and thereafter, the State Government, vide Notification dated 02.09.2015 (Annex-1) issued a direction to the State Transport Authority, Rajasthan, Jaipur, for limiting the number of vehicles and number of services on such routes of the notified schemes, as mentioned in the chart (running from Serial No.1 to 476) incorporated in the said Notification.

3.2 The petitioner was granted a permit, under the aforesaid Notification dated 02.09.2015, on Bikaner-Nokha (via Deshnok) notified route No.203, duly sanctioned under Chapter V of the MOTOR VEHICLES ACT , 1988, while the respondent no. 4 was granted the permit on Bikaner-Nokha (via Desnokh) notified route No. 203 by the Secretary, Regional Transport Authority Bikaner vide order dated 29.01.2016 (Annex-2) to operate one single service on the said route; in compliance of the said order, the respondent No.4 was also issued stage carriage permit on 12.07.2016, which was valid upto 11.07.2021 for 5 single service, on route No. 203.

3.3 Thereafter, the State Government, vide Notification dated 31.10.2017 (Annex-4), increased the single services on Bikaner- Nokha (via Desnokh) notified route No. 203 from 3 single services to that of 18 single services. The respondent no.4 submitted an application for grant of 5 additional services in his permit on the said Bikaner-Nokha (via Desnokh) route, and the State Transport Authority, Jaipur vide order dated 07.11.2017 (Annex-5), granted the same.

3.4 Subsequently, the State Government, vide Notification dated 23.09.2019 (Annex-6), again modified the number of permits and services and fixed the scope of 3 permits to provide 3 single service on the notified route No. 203 Bikaner-Nokha (via Desnokh). The petitioner is aggrieved with the continued allowance of the 5 additional services sanctioned in respect of the permit of the respondent no. 4 by the State Transport Authority, as the respondent's route substantially overlaps the petitioner's route.

4. Mr. Bhanwara Ram petitioner in person submitted that the State Government, vide the aforementioned Notification dated 23.09.2019, has fixed the number of permits and number of services as 3 permits to operate 3 single services on the Bikaner- Nokha (via Desnokh notified) route No.