ivil Appeal No 1758 of 1986
From the Judgment and Order dated 2211
1985 of the Madras High Court in CRP No 3117 of 1984
Dr YS Chitale AV Rangam TV Ratnam and M Palani for the Appellant
KK Venugopal ATM Sampath and section Srinivasan for the Respondent
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by VENKATARAMIAH J
The appellant is one of the State Transport Undertakings established in the State of Tamil Nadu
It has questioned in this appeal by special leave the decision of the High Court of Madras in CRP No 3117 of 1984 affirming an order granting variation of a permit issued under the provisions of the here inafter referred to as the Act  by virtue of which the respondent is permitted to run a stage carriage on the route between Checkanurani and Madurai which is a part of a noti fied route Madurai to Kumuli via Checkanurani Valandur Usilampatti and Theni
Before the High Court the State Transport Appellate Tribunal and the Regional Transport Authority the appellant had pleaded the publication of a draft scheme under section 68 C of the Act on June 4 1976 in respect of the route Madurai to Kumuli as a bar to the grant of a variation of the permit prayed for by the re spondent
In this Court the appellant has relied upon the existence of an approved scheme published on June 30 1976 in respect of the very same route Madurai to Kumuli also as a bar to the order of variation of permit granted in favour of the respondent
The route is common to both the draft scheme dated June 4 1976 and the approved scheme dated June 30 1976
We shall however consider the effect of the approved scheme on the order granting variation of the permit first
The facts of the case are these
On June 30 1976 as stated earlier the approved scheme was published under section 68 D of the Act in the Tamil Nadu Government Gazette in respect of the route Madurai to Kumuli authorising the appellant to run its stage carriages on that route
By that approved scheme it was proposed to exclude completely all other persons from operating their stage carriage services under permits covering the entire route referred to above 394 except those persons mentioned in Annexure II to the said scheme without prejudice to any future modifications varia tions etc
of their permits
The operators whose names had been mentioned in Annexure II to the scheme were persons who were existing operators on the different sectors of the notified route on the date of the publication of the scheme
The respondent was not one of the those persons who was running a stage carriage service on any part or sector of the route in question on the date of its publication
Hence his name was not mentioned in Annexure II to the scheme
He was then operating a stage carriage service under a permit issued under the Act on the route Batlagundu to Usilampatti which was non scheme route
On February 28 1981 he was able to secure the variation of the said permit from the Regional Transport Authority which enabled him tO operate on the route measuring 214 Kms
from Usilampatti to Checkanurani which formed a sector of the notified route
The appeal filed against the said order was dismissed and no revision petition was filed against the order dismissing the said appeal
On 23121982 he obtained from the Regional Trans port Authority a second variation of his permit under which he was authorised to operate his stage carriage service over a distance of 166
from Checkanurani to Madurai which was also a part of the notified route
An appeal filed against that or was dismissed by the State Transport Appel late Tribunal
A revision petition was filed under section 64 B of the Act as in force in the State of Tamil Nadu before the High Court
The High Court dismissed the revision petition
This appeal by special leave is filed against the above order of the High Court
As mentioned earlier the appellant pleaded before the High Court that a draft scheme published on June 4 1976 which was still in force was a bar to the grant of variation of the permit authorising the respondent to operate his stage carriage on a sector of the route in respect of which the scheme had been published
The High Court was of the view that section 68 FI D could not be considered as a bar for entertaining an application for the variation of a permit since such an application was neither an application for a permit nor for its renewal
In arriving at the said decision it relied upon section 68 F1 D of the Act which read as follows 68 F1 D
save as otherwise provided in sub section lA or sub section 1 C no permit shall be granted or renewed during the period intervening between the date of publi cation under section 68 C of any scheme and the date of publication of the approved or modified scheme in 395 favour of any person for any class of road transport service in relation to an area or route or portion thereof covered by such scheme    It further relied upon a decision of this Court in Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation Bangalore vs BA Jayaram and Others 1984 2 SCR 768
In that case this Court observed at page 789 thus Assuming therefore that an application for variation of the conditions of a permit re ferred to in sub section 8 of section 57 is to be deemed by a fiction of law to be an application for the grant of a new permit the question to which we must address ourselves is for what purpose is such an application for variation deemed to be an application for grant of a new permit
Reading sub sections 3 to 8 of section 57 as a whole it is clear that the only purpose is to apply to such an application for variation the proce dure prescribed by sub sections 3 to 7 of section 57 and not for the purpose of provid ing that when the application for variation is granted the permit so varied would be deemed to be a new permit
If a permit so varied were to be deemed to be a new permit the result would be anomalous
 From the above observation the High Court deduced that an application for the variation of a permit held by the re spondent was not in fact an application for a permit and did not fall within the mischief of section 68 F1 D of the Act
In the context in which section 68 F1 D appears we find it difficult to agree that the application for varia tion of a permit by including the whole or any part of route in respect of which a scheme is published under section 68 C of the Act can be treated as falling outside the mischief of section 68 F1 D of the Act
There is no justification to limit the application of section 68 F1 D of the Act to only applications for fresh permits or their renewal and to leave out applications for variation of a permit by the inclusion of the route or a portion of the route in respect of which a scheme is published
The fact that the applicant is the holder of a permit to operate a stage carriage on another route whose variation he is seeking by the inclusion of a route or a part thereof in respect of which a scheme is published under section 68 C of the Act ought not to make any difference
The principle underlying section 68 F1 D of the Act is that the number of services on such a route should be frozen on the publication of a scheme under sec tion 68 C of the Act
It is not however necessary for us to pursue the applicability of section 68 F1 D 396 of the Act to the present case any further since it is brought to our notice that the very same route is the sub ject matter of the approved scheme published under section 68 D of the Act on June 30 1976 to which we have already adverted
The approved scheme as mentioned earlier ex cludes the operation by others of stage carriage services on the above mentioned route Madurai to Kumuli except those whose names are mentioned in Annexure II attached thereto
The respondent is not protected by any provision in the approved scheme itself
He cannot be permitted to operate on any sector of the notified route in question in view of the provisions contained in sections 68 C 68 D and 68 FF of the Act
The effect of these provisions has been summarised by a Constitution Bench of this Court in Adarsh Travels Bus Service and Another vs State of UP and Others  Chinnappa Reddy J speaking for the Constitu tion Bench observed at page 566 thus 7
A carefully and diligent perusal of Sec tion 68 C Section 68 D3 and Section 68 FF in the light of the definition of the expres sion route  in Section 228 A appears to make it manifestly clear that once a scheme is published under Section 68 D in relation to any area or route or portion thereof whether to the exclusion complete or partial of other persons or otherwise no person other than the State Transport Undertaking may operate on the notified area or notified route except as provided in the scheme itself
A necessary consequence of these provisions is that no private operator can operate his vehicle on any part or portion of a notified area or notified route unless authorised so to do by the terms of the scheme itself
He may not operate on any part or portion of the notified route or area on the mere ground that the permit as originally granted to him covered the notified route or area
 In view of the above observation we have to hold that in the instant case the respondent is not entitled to operate his stage carriage on the notified route or a portion there of even though he may have been granted variation of his permit to operate on a sector of the notified route
We do not agree with the contention urged on behalf of the respondent that on a true construction of the scheme only persons who are operating their stage carriages under permits issued in respect of the entire route from Madurai to Kumuli alone have been excluded 397 under the approved scheme and not those Who are operating between any two places on the notified route or between any place lying outside the notified route and a place on the notified route even though they may be operating on a por tion of the notified route
We are firmly of the view that on the entire notified route between Madurai and Kumuli or any part thereof apart from the State Transport Undertaking no person other than those mentioned in Annexure II to the approved scheme can operate a state carriage service
We therefore direct the respondent not to operate his stage carriage on the sector in respect of which he has obtained the variation of his permit
We are informed that the draft scheme published on June 4 1976 is being considered by the authority concerned under section 68 D of the Act
It is open to the respondent to make any representation which he is advised to make before the said authority regarding the inconvenience caused to him by reason of the approved scheme referred to above
The above appeal is therefore allowed accordingly
There is no order as to costs
APJ Appeal allowed


Summary:
The appellant is one of the State Transport Undertak ings
On June 30 1976 an approved scheme was published under s68 D of the in respect of the route Madurai to Kumuli authorising the appellant to run its stage carriages and proposing to exclude completely all other persons from operating their stage carriage services under permits covering the entire route except those persons mentioned in Annexure 11 to the scheme who were existing operators on the different sectors of the notified route on the date of the publication of the scheme
The respondent s name was not mentioned in Annexure I1 as he was operating on a non scheme route
On February 28 1981 the respondent secured the variation of his permit from the Regional Transport Authority enabling him to operate on a sector of the notified routes
The appeal against the said order was dismissed and no revision petition was filed against that order
On December 23 1982 the respondent obtained from the Regional Transport Authority a second variation of his permit which authorised him to operate his stage carriage service on the route which was also a part of the notified route
An appeal filed against that order was dismissed by the State Transport Appellate Tribunal
The High Court dismissed the revision petition taking the view that s68 FI D of the Act could not be considered as a bar for entertaining an application for the variation of a permit since such an application was neither an appli cation for a permit nor for its renewal
In the appeal to this Court on behalf of the appellant it was 392 contended that a draft scheme published under s68 C of the Act on June 4 1976 which was still in force was a bar to the grant of variation of the permit authorising the re spondent to operate his stage carriage on a sector of the route in respect of which the scheme had been published
On behalf of the respondent it was contended that on a true construction of the scheme only persons who were oper ating their stage carriages under permits issued in respect of the entire route from Madurai to Kumuli alone have been excluded under the approved scheme and not those who were operating between any two aces on the notified route or between any place lying outside the notified route and a place on the notified route even though they might be oper ating on a portion of the notified route
Allowing the appeal HELD 1
In the context in which s68 FI D of the appears it is difficult to hold that the application for variation of a permit by including the whole or any part of route in respect of which a scheme is published under s68 C of the Act can be treated as failing outside the mischief of s68 FI D of the Act
There is no justification to limit the application of s68 FI D to only applications for fresh permits or their renewal and to leave out their application for variation of a permit by the exclusion of the route or a portion of the route in respect of which a scheme is published
The fact that the applicant is the holder of a permit to operate a stage carriage on another route whose variation he is seek ing by the inclusion of a route or a part whereof in respect of which a scheme is published under s68 C ought not to make any difference
The principle underlying s68 FI D is that the number of services on such a route should be frozen on the publication of a scheme under s68 C 395E H 2
The approved scheme excludes the operation by others of stage carriage service on the said route except those whose names are mentioned in Annexure II attached thereto
The respondent is not protected by any provision under the approved scheme itself
He cannot be permitted to operate on any sector of the notified route in question in view of the provisions contained in s68 C 68 D and 68 FF
396B C Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation Bangalore vs
BA Jayaram and Others 1984 2 SCR 768  Adarsh Travels Bus Service and Another vs State of UP and Others   referred to 393