Sharma, J. — These are two petitions, one No. 275 of 1952, by the Dholpur Co-operative Transport and Multipurposes Union Ltd. (to be hereinafter referred to as the Union), and the other No. 276 of 1952 by the Dholpur Motor Transport Association (to be hereinafter referred to as the Association), under Art. 226 of the Constitution of India. Both are directed, inter alia, against the Appellate Authority (Transport) Rajasthan, the State Transport Authority Rajasthan, and the Regional Transport Authority, Jaipur Region. In petition No. 275 Satya Narain Singh and in petition No. 276 Choudhary Khazan Singh have also been made opposite parties.

2. The facts, so far as they are necessary for the disposal of these two petitions, are that applications for stage carriage permits were invited, inter alia on the Dholpur-Agra route, vide notification dated 28th June, 1951, of the Office of the Transport Commissioner, Rajasthan, Jaipur, published in the Rajasthan Gazette dated 7th July, 1951. The applications were to be submitted within ten days of the publication of the said notification. Applications were made in pursuance of this notification, and names of 50 applicants were published in the Rajasthan Gazette, No. 87 dated 15th September, 1951, in connection with the permits on Dholpur-Agra route, vide notification No. 5/RTA/51, dated 22nd August, 1951. Among the applicants the names of Bijai Singh, Girraj Kishore, Rajendra Singh Sandhu, Ram. Dayal, Rajendra Singh, Puran Chand, Man Singh, Harbilas Raghubar Dayal, Kishan Singh, Ram Chand, Radhelal, Dholpur Motor Transport Association, and Satya Narayan Singh were published with their address as Dholpur. The case of the Union is that after the publication of the names of the applicants for permits in the Gazette, the aforesaid persons, with the exception of Satya Narain Singh and the Dholpur Motor Transport Association, formed the Dholpur Co-operative Transport and Multi-purposes Union Ltd. On a consideration of the applications and representations which were filed against them, the Regional Transport Authority, Jaipur, granted four permits to the Association and two to the Union from Dholpur side. Satya Narain Singh was not granted any permit. He consequently filed an appeal on 26th October, 1951, before the Appellate Authority (Transport) Rajasthan. Khazan Singh wrote to the Regional Transport Authority, Jaipur, on the 16th of November, 1951, that he be granted a permit but his request was refused. Against this refusal Khazan Singh filed an appeal before the Appellate Authority (Transport) Rajasthan on the 19th of November, 1951. Both these appeals were heard by Shri Bhola Nath, Minister for Transport, Shri Kishorelal, Chief Engineer, P.W.D., and Shri Yugalkishore Chaturvedi. Shri Bhola Nath purported to act as Chairman, and Shri Kishorelal and Shri Yugalkishore Chaturvedi as Members of the Appellate Authority (Transport) Rajasthan. By the order dated 30th July. 1952. the appeals of Satya Narayan Singh and Khazan Singh were allowed, and both these persons were permitted to run one bus each on Dholpur-Agra route from Dholpur side. As four permits had already been granted to the Association and two to the Union, and under the arrangement with U. P. Government it was not possible to run more than six buses per day from the Dholpur side, an arrangement was made that out of these 8 buses only six may run per day in rotation.

3. Dissatisfied with the above order, the Union and the Association filed these two petitions, and one of their contentions is that the so-called Appellate Authority was not duly constituted, and, therefore, it had no jurisdiction to hear the appeal against the decision of the Regional Transport Authority, Jaipur. Other contentions have also been raised, but in view of the decision which I have come to on the above point regarding the invalidity of the constitution of the Appellate Authority, it is not necessary for me to express any opinion on them.

4. The prayer of the peti

Click Here to Read the rest of this document