ivil Appeal No 1522 of 1986
From the Judgment and Order dated 341986 of the State Transport Appellate Tribunal Pondicherry in MVA No 15 of 1986
R Venkataramani for the Appellant
KR Nambiar and section Srinivasan for the Respondents
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by VENKATARAMIAH J
This appeal by special leave is filed against the order dated April 3 1986 passed by the State Transport Appellate Tribunal Pondicherry hereinafter referred to as the Tribunal  setting aside a temporary permit to ply a stage carriage issued in favour of the appellant in respect of the route Pondicherry to Madras via Thirukanur Vikaravandi Tindivanam and Chingleput under section 62 of the hereinafter referred to as the Act  and granting it in favour of Respondent No 2 A Balasundaram for the remaining period of the temporary permit ie upto May 31 1986
The period of the temporary permit having come 183 to an end no further orders are necessary as regards the person who could operate a stage carriage under that permit
This appeal could have been disposed of with this observa tion but we are compelled to pronounce a detailed order in this case having regard to the slackness that is creeping into the manner in which the provisions of the Act are being administered by some transport authorities
Chapter IV of the Act deals with the control of trans port vehicles
Section 42 of the Act lays down that no owner of a transport vehicle shall use or permit the use of the vehicle in any public place whether or not such vehicle is actually carrying any passenger or goods save in accordance with the conditions of a permit granted or countersigned by a Regional or State Transport Authority of the Commission authorising the use of the vehicle in that place in the manner in which the vehicle is being used
Section 44 of the Act provides for the constitution of the State Transport Authority and the Regional Transport Authorities to exercise and discharge the respective powers assigned to them under the Act
The said Chapter contains the provisions under which permits may be issued by the Regional Transport Au thority for running a stage carriage a contract carriage a private carrier and a public carrier
It also provides for the issue of permits valid for the whole or any part of India for running tourist vehicles
Chapter IV contains the provisions regarding the manner in which the applications have to be made for different kinds of permits and the procedure that has to be followed in each case for granting such permits
Section 47 of the Act which is in Chapter IV deals with the procedure to be followed by a Regional Trans port Authority
In considering an application for a stage carriage permit the Regional Transport Authority should have due regard to the following matters namely a the inter est of the public generally b the advantages to the public of the service to be provided including the saving of time likely to be effected thereby and any convenience arising from journeys not being broken c the adequacy of other passenger transport services operating or likely to operate in the near future whether by road or other means between the places to be served d the benefit to any particular locality or localities likely to be afforded by the service e the operation by the applicant of other transport services including those in respect of which applications from him for permits are pending and f the condition of the roads included in the proposed route or area
It should also take into consideration any representa tions made by persons already providing passenger transport facilities by any means along or near the proposed route or area or by any association representing persons interested in the provision 184 of road transport facilities recognised in this behalf by the State Government or by any local authority or police authority within whose jurisdiction any part of the proposed route or area lies
A reading of the aforesaid provisions shows that the paramount consideration that should govern the decision of a Regional Transport Authority in issuing a permit to run a stage carriage is the interest of the gener al public
Since it was felt that the permits for plying stage carriages issued by the several Regional Transport Authori ties in India were being cornered by persons belonging to richer and more advanced classes in society and persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes Scheduled Tribes and other economically weaker sections of the community were not able to compete with people who were rich and more advanced Parliament amended section 47 of the Act by Act 47 of 1978 by introducing provisions for making reservation of certain percentage of stage carriage permits to persons belonging to Scheduled Castes Scheduled Tribes and economically weaker sections of the community
After the above amendment section 471A of the Act provides that the Government of a State shall reserve in that State certain percentage of stage carriage permits for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes and the reservation of permits under the said provi sion is directed to be made in the same ratio as in the case of appointments made by direct recruitment by public serv ices of the State
Such reservation appears to be mandatory
Sub section 1C of section 47 of the Act provides that the Government of a State may having regard to the extent to which persons belonging to economically weaker section of the community have been granted stage carriage permits in that State a reserve in that State such percentage of stage carriage permits as may be prescribed for persons belonging to economically weaker sections of the community or b notwithstanding anything contained in the proviso to sub section 1 of section 47 give preference in such manner as may be prescribed to applications for stage carriage permits from such persons
Sub section 1D of section 47 of the Act provides that the number of permits reserved under subsection lB and clause a of sub section 1C of section 47 shall not exceed fifty per cent of that total number of stage carriage permits granted during a calendar year
The reservation made in favour of the Sched uled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes is protected by clause 4 of Article 15 of the Constitution of India which pro vides that nothing in Article 15 shall prevent the State from making any special provision for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes
185 Such special provision would therefore be out of the mischief of clause 1 of Article 15 which provides that the State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion race caste sex place of birth or any of them
It is also in consonance with Article 46 of the Con stitution
Such special provision is necessary to assist the members belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and to the weaker sections of society economically as they cannot otherwise compete with the other sections of society
After the introduction of sub sections 1A to 1H into section 47 of the Act the Government of India sent a communication to all the State Governments and Union Terri tories to implement the reservations for members belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes provided therein without delay
It reads thus Government of India Ministry of Shipping and Transport No TGM70 New Delhi dated the 24th August 1979 To All the State GovtUnion Territory Administrations
Sub Reservation of permits for scheduled castes scheduled tribes as provided in the Motor Vehicles Amend ment Act 1978
I am directed to refer to this Ministry s letter of even number dated the 31st January 1979 on the above subject and to say that so far as reservation in favour of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes is concerned the provisions of the Motor Vehi cles Amendment Act 1978 can be implemented straight way
The implementation of this provision need not wait for the framing of any Rules since the rules are required to be framed only in respect of circumstances under which the manner in which and the extent to which the reservation may be carried forward
Since the question of carrying forward will arise only after the expiry of the current year rules in this respect can be finalised during the course of the year
The State GovtsUnion Ter 186 ritories are requested to kindly have the provisions of the Act in regard to reservation for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in respect of stage carriage permits public carrier permits and national permits imple mented without further delay
The State GovtsUnion territory Administra tions are also requested to indicate the number of permits of various categories grant ed after the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Amendment Act 1978 was brought into force the number reserved for scheduled castesscheduled tribes and the number of permits actually granted to scheduled castes and scheduled tribes with reasons for short fall if any
Yours faith fully Sd BR CHAVAN DEPUTY SECRETARY TO THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
The Union Territory of Pondicherry after the lapse of nearly seven Years from the date of the amendment of section 47 of the Act issued rules regarding reservations to be made in favour of persons belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes under section 471A of the Act on 126
On the issue of said rules a number of writ petitions were filed by persons not belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes questioning the validity of sub section 1A of section 47 of the Act and the said petitions are still pending
We shall not say anything more on the merits of those petitions
It is regrettable that for some reasons or other the State Transport Authority of Pondicherry has not taken steps to issue regular permits on about 18 routes in respect of which it has entered into inter State agreements with the State of Tamil Nadu even though the need for issuing those permits is beyond dispute
But on the other hand for nearly six years it is stated that the State Transport Authority of Pondicherry is issuing temporary permits under section 62 of the Act repeatedly in respect of the routes
the disad vantages surffeted by the persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes Scheduled Tribes and the economically weaker sec tions of the community by the procedure adopted by the State Transport Authority are obvious
If stage carriage permits are to be issued then in compliance with sub section 1A of section 47 of the Act certain percentage of the said permits would 187 have to be reserved for the persons belonging to Scheduled Castes Scheduled Tribes and if the Government so desires to the economically weaker sections of the community
If the issue of such permits is postponed for any reason and only temporary permits are issued then the persons belonging to Scheduled Castes Scheduled Tribes and the weaker sections would not be able to enjoy the benefit of the reservation
It is unfortunate that even though Parliament had enacted the amendments nearly nine years ago the benefit of those provisions has not been availed of by those for whose bene fit they were enacted
We are informed that the appellant and some others belonging to Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes have made applications for grant of regular permits and those applications have remained undisposed of on ac count of the litigiousness of others
The action taken by the State Transport Authority in issuing temporary permits repeatedly for a long number of years is clearly in violation of the letter and spirit of section 62 of the Act under which such temporary permits are issued
Section 62 of the Act reads thus 62
Temporary permits 1 A Regional Transport Authority may without following the procedure laid down in section 57 grant permits to be effective for a limited period not in any case to exceed four months to authorise the use of a transport vehicle temporarily a for the conveyance of passengers on special occasions such as to and from fairs and religious gatherings or b for the purposes of a seasonal business or c to meet a particular temporary need or d pending decision on an application for the renewal of a permit and may attach to any such permit any condition it thinks fit
Provided that a temporary permit under this section shall in no case be granted in respect of any route or area speci fied in an application for the grant of a new permit under section 46 or section 54 during the pendency of the application Provided further that a temporary permit under this 188 section shall in no case be granted more than once in respect of any route or area specified in an application for the renewal of a permit during the pendency of such applica tion for renewal
Notwithstanding anything con tained in subsection 1 a temporary permit may be granted thereunder in respect of any route or area where i no permit could be issued under section 48 or section 51 or section 54 in respect of that route of area by reason of an order of a court or other competent authority restraining the issue of the same for a period not exceeding the period for which the issue of the permit has been so restrained or ii as a result of the suspension by a court or other competent authority of the permit of any vehicle in respect of that route or area there is no transport vehicle of the same class with a valid permit in respect of that route or area or there is no adequate number of such vehicles in respect of that route or area for a period not exceeding the period of such suspension Provided that the number of transport vehicles in respect of which the temporary permit is so granted shall  not exceed the number of vehicles in respect of which the issue of a permit has been restrained or as the case may be the permit has been suspend ed
 Under section 62 of the Act it is permissible to a Regional Transport Authority to issue temporary permits to be effective for a limited period not exceeding four months without following the procedure laid down in section 57 of the Act
Such temporary permits can be issued only for the conveyance of passengers on special occasions such as to and from fairs and religious gatherings or for the purposes of a seasonal business or to meet a particular temporary need or pending decision on an application for the renewal of a permit
The regional Transport Authority cannot grant a temporary permit for a route or area specified in an appli cation for grant of a new permit under section 46 or section 54 of the Act during the pendency of the application
That section further provides that a temporary permit issued under that section shall in no case be granted more that once in respect of any 189 route or area specified in an application for the renewal of a permit during the pendency of such application for renew al
A temporary permit can thus be granted only if the permit is required for the purposes or reasons mentioned in clauses a to d of section 621 of the Act which are mentioned above or in the circumstances referred to in sub section 2 thereof
This is clear from the decision of this Court in Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation vs
K Venkataramireddy and others In that decision this court held that a temporary permit could be issued only for the purposes or reasons mentioned in clauses a to d of section 62 of the Act as it stood then
Subsequent to the amendment of section 62 of the Act a temporary permit can also be issued under the circumstances mentioned in sub section 2 of section 62 of the Act
There cannot be also a renewal or revalidation of a temporary permit as held by this CoUrt in Gandhara Transport Co Ltd vs The State of Punjab and others 1963 Supp 1 SCR 800
The revalidation or renewal of a temporary permit or extension of the period for which a temporary permit is issued is not contemplated by law
The issue of temporary permits by the State Transport Authority in the instant case continuously for a number of years is clearly in violation of the statute
The Regional Transport Authority which is charged with the duty of issuing permits for transport vehicles under the Act in the public interest should wherev er it finds that the need for issuing such stage carriage permit is established take immediate steps to invite appli cations from persons who are willing to run the stage car riage on the route or in the area in question and proceed to grant the permit in favour of a deserving applicant
If any person on his own makes application for the grant of a stage carriage permit the Regional Transport Authority should consider such application in accordance with law and proceed to grant a permit if it finds that it is necessary to do so
It may also be noted that if a regular permit is issued it would be in force for a period not less than three years and not more than five years as may be determined by the Region al Transport Authority and such permit is capable of being renewed under section 58 of the Act
But if the Regional Transport Authority proceeds to issue a temporary permit then at the end of every four months it will have to spend time over the consideration of fresh applications for the issue of such permits and it is needless to say that the necessity for making applications at the end of every four months would entail many undesirable consequences which should be avoided
With these observations we dispose of the appeal
MLA Appeal disposed of


Summary:
Respondent No 1 State Transport Appellate Tribunal set aside a temporary permit to ply a stage carriage on the pondicherry Madras route issued under s62 of the in favour of the appellant and granted it in favour of respondent No 2 for the remaining period of the temporary permit
Hence this appeal by special leave
The Court found that the period of temporary permit having come to an end no further orders are necessary as regards the person who could operate a stage carriage under that permit
The Union Territory of Pondicherry after the lapse of 7 years from the date of the amendment of section 47 of the Act issued rules on 126
1985 regarding reservations to be made in favour of persons belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes under Section 471A of the Act
Having regard to the slackness that is creeping into the manner in which the provisions of the Act regarding reservation of certain percentage of stage carriage permits to be made in favour of persons belonging to Scheduled Castes Scheduled Tribes and issue of temporary permits are being adminis tered by some Transport Authorities this Court HELD 11 Section 47 of the Act deals with the proce dure to be followed by a Regional Transport Authority
In considering an application for a stage carriage permit the Regional Transport Authority should have due regard to the following matters namely a the interest of the public generally b the advantage to the public of the service to be provided including the saving of time likely to be effected thereby and any convenience arising from journeys not being broken c the adequacy of other passenger trans port services operating or 180 likely to operate in the near future whether by road or other means between the places to be served d the bene fit to any particular locality or localities likely to be afforded by the service e the operation by the applicant of other transport services including those in respect of which applications from him for permits are pending and f the condition of the roads included in the proposed route or area
It should also take into consideration any representa tions made by persons already providing passenger transport facilities by any means along or near the proposed route or area or by any association representing persons interested in the provision of road transport facilities recognised in this behalf by the State Government or by any local author ity or police authority within whose jurisdiction any part of the proposed route or area lies
Thus the paramount consideration that should govern the decision of a Regional Transport Authority in issuing a permit to run a stage carriage is the interest of the general publice
183E H 184A B 12 It was felt that the permits for plying stage carriages in India were being cornered by persons belonging to richer and more advanced classes in society and persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes Scheduled Tribes and other economically weaker sections of the community were not able to compete with people who were rich and more advanced
Parliament therefore amended section 47 of the Act by intro ducing provisions for making reservation of certain percent age of stage carriage permits to persons belonging to Sched uled Castes Scheduled Tribes and economically weaker sec tions of the community viz Section 471A
The reservation made in favour of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes is protected by clause4 of Article 15 of the Constitution of India
184B D G 13 If stage carriage permits are to be issued then in compliance with sub sectionIA of Section 47 of the Act certain percentage of the said permits would have to be reserved for the persons belonging to Scheduled Castes Scheduled Tribes and if the Government so desires to the economically weaker sections of the community
If the issue of such permits is postponed for any reason and only tempo rary permits are issued then the persons belonging to Sched uled Castes Scheduled Tribes and the weaker sections would not be able to enjoy the benefit of the reservations
186H 187A B In the instant case it is regrettable that for some reason or other the State Transport Authority of Pondicherry has not taken steps to issue regular permits on 18 routes in respect of which it has entered into inter State agreements with the State of Tamil Nadu even though the 181 need for issuing those permits is beyond dispute
But on the other hand for nearly six years the State Transport Authority of Pondicherry is issuing temporary permits under s 62 of the Act repeatedly in respect of the routes
The disadvantages suffered by the persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes Scheduled Tribes and the economically weaker sections of the community by the procedure adopted by the State Transport Authority are obvious
186F H 21
Under section 62 of the Act it is permissible to a Regional Transport Authority to issue temporary permits to be effective for a limited period not exceeding four months without following the procedure laid down in s57 of the Act
Such temporary permits can be issued only for the conveyance of passengers on special occasions such as to and from fairs and religious gatherings or for the purposes of a seasonal business or to meet a particular temporary need or pending decision on an application for the renewal of a permit
The Regional Transport Authority cannot grant a temporary permit for a route or area specified in an appli cation for grant of a new permit under s46 or s54 of the Act during the pendency of the application
That section further provides that a temporary permit issued under that section shall in no case be granted more than once in re spect of any route or area specified in an application for the renewal of a permit during the pendency of such applica tion for renewal
A temporary permit can thus be granted only if the permit is required for the purposes or reasons mentioned in clauses a to d of s62 D of the Act or in the circumstances referred to in sub section2 thereof
188F H 189A B 22
There cannot be also a renewal or revalidation of a temporary permit
The revalidation or renewal of a tempo rary permit or exension of the period for which a temporary permit is issued is not contemplated by law
189C D In the instant case the action taken by the State Transport Authority in issuing temporary permits repeatedly for a long number of years is clearly in violation of the letter and spirit of section 62 of the Act
189D Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation vs
K Venkataramireddy and Others and Gandha ra Transport Co Ltd vs The State of Punjab and others  1963 Supp
SCR 800 followed
31 The Regional Transport Authority which is charged with the 182 duty of issuing permits for transport vehicles under the Act in the public interest should wherever it finds that the need for issuing such stage carriage permit is established take immediate steps to invite applications from persons who are willing to run the stage carriage on the route or in the area in question and proceed to grant the permit in favour of a deserving applicant
If any person on his own makes application for the grant of a stage carriage permit the Regional Transport Authority should consider such applica tion in accordance with law and proceed to grant a permit if it finds that it is necessary to do so
189D F 32 If a regular permit is issued it would be in force for a period not less than three years and not more than five years as may be determined by the Regional Transport Authority and such permit is capable of being renewed under section 58 of the Act
But if the Regional Transport Au thority proceeds to issue a temporary permit then at the end of every four months it will have to spend time over the consideration of fresh applications for the issue of such permits and it is needless to say that the necessity for making applications at the end of every four months would entail many undesirable consequences which should be avoid ed
189F H