Vested or substantive rights cannot be taken away by retrospective legislation.

( 1 ) THE petitioner, Madhya Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (for short, the 'corporation'), established under S. 3 of the Road Transport Corporation Act, 1950, by this petition under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India, has challenged the order dated 31-3-1990 (Annexure P/3), passed by the respondent No. 2, Regional Transport Authority (RTA), Gwalior, confirmed in revision by the State Transport Appellate Tribunal (STAT), Gwalior by order dated 2-6-1992 (Annexure P/9), of grant of a regular permit to respondent No. 3, of the route Dabra-Bhander via Goraghat, Uprai, Sitapur, Sonagiri, Chhoti Badoni, Lal Ka Tal, Datia, Pasari, Unnao, Kamad, Kusoli, Basbaha, covering a distance of 76 Kms. , in which a portion of 22 Kms - Dabra to Sitapur (18 Kms.) and Lal Ka Tal to Datia (4 Kms.), forms part of a nationalised route, Gwalior-Jhansi, reserved exclusively for petitioner under scheme No. 38, approved and published in the Gazette dated 12-4-1985.

( 2 ) THE petitioner contends that Notification No. 16-1-79-II-A (2), dated 18-2-1979 (Annexure P/4) permitted private operators to ply stage carriages on notified routes (the portion does not apply as the scheme No. 38 was approved under Section 68d of the Motor Vehicles Act 1939 (for short, the 'old Act') and published in M. P. Gazette on 12-4-1985. Later, by a notification (No. 16-2-90-VIII, dated 15-11-1990) (Annexure P/5), issued under Section 102 (2) of the Motor Vehicles Act 1988 (for short, the 'new Act'), the State Government invited objections of the proposed modification of the schemes specified therein, which included scheme No. 38 also, and later by Notification No. F-16-90-VIII dated 11-2-1991 (Annexure P/6), published in the M. P. Gazette, the proposed modification of the schemes was approved, permitting the private operators to ply for hire or reward the stage carriages in the manner shown in the Schedule, fixing a limit of exemption on notified route not exceeding 25 kilometers. The notification modifying the schemes was not retrospective in operation; therefore, the grant made by the RTA was invalid, and could not have been validated by the STAT applying the said notification retrospectively.

( 3 ) THERE is a dispute whether the four kilometer distance covered by route Lal Ka Tal to Datia falls within scheme No. 38 or not on Gwalior-Jhansi route, but that has no relevance for the purposes of the present petition, as the question involved is whether the approval of the modified schemes by the State Government under Section 102 of the New Act (S. 68e of the Old Act) can be applied retrospectively to validate the grant of permit.

( 4 ) THE special provision relating to Transport Undertakings contained in Chapter VI of the New Act (corresponding to chapter IV-A of the Old Act) provides for nationalisation of road transport services in manner prescribed. After preparation of proposals by the State Government to nationalise road transport services to be operated by State Transport Undertakings and publication of such proposals in the Official Gazette and news papers in regional languages inviting objections as required under Section 99 of the New Act (corresponding to Section 68c of the Old Act) and after following the procedure as laid down in Section 100 (S. 68d of the Old Act) the State Government may approve or modify such proposal. A scheme approved or modified and published in the Official Gazette becomes final on the date of its publication and is called the 'approved scheme' and the area or route to which it relates is called the 'notified area or notified route. '

( 5 ) AFTER the scheme is framed and approved in accordance with the provisions of S. 100 of the Act, it gives an exclusive right to the State Transport Undertaking to operate and ply transport service in relation to any area or route or portion covered by such scheme. As a necessary consequence, no private operator can operate his vehicle on any part or portion of a notifi