1. Special Appeal No. 373 of 1960 and writ petition No. 1987 of 1960 are connected with each other and it will therefore, be convenient to dispose them of together.

2. By a notification published, on the 6th of June 1959 the Regional Transport Authority invited, applications to fill certain vacancies on the Pilibhit - Bisalpur - Bisanda route. Seventy three persons applied for stage carnage permits on the route and all the applications were published in the Gazette dated the 5th of September 1959. The seventy three applicants included Sri Nirmal Das Khattooria, Sri Mohammad Tahir and Sri Bankey Lal Vidyarthil. All the applications were considered by the Regional Transport Authority in the meetings held on the 7th and 8th of December, 1959.
The other applications were rejected but permits were granted in respect of the route to Sri Bankey Lal Vidyarthi and Sri Nirmal Das Khattooria. The other persons concerned submitted to the order but five appeals were filed against the decision before the State Transport Authority Tribunal. The persons who filed the appeals were Sri Mohammad Tahir, Sri Purshottam Deo, Sri Mardan Ali Khan, Sri Sami Uliah Khan and Sri Nathu Lal Varshney. The appeals