( 1 ) THIS is a petition under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India for issuance of a writ of certiorari quashing the order, dated 30-8-1977 (Annexure-E), passed by the State Transport Appellate Tribunal.

( 2 ) WHEN this petition came up before a Division Bench of this Court for admission, a copy of the decision, dated 3-3-1964, in Dharam Singh v. R. T. A. Gwalior (Misc. Petn. No. 436 of 1963) was brought to the notice of the Bench. In the opinion of the Division Bench, the question that was raised was of general importance and of frequent occurrence and so it felt that the point deserved to be considered by a larger Bench. Accordingly, it has come up before us.

( 3 ) THE R. T. A. Bilaspur vide notification published in the Madhya Pradesh rajpatra, dated 9-4-1976, declared scope for grant of a stage carriage permit on route Ambikapur-Nandamali via Darima for one return-trip daily. Prior to this, the permit had been granted to Motor Transport Worker, Ambikapur, but it was cancelled by the R. T. A. vide order, dated 6-2-1976, on account of no-operation. In response to the aforesaid notification, the petitioner respondent no. 3 Shri Harbans Singh and the