IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) THURSDAY, THE THIRTY FIRST DAY OF JULY TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE N.V. RAMANA WRIT PETITION NO : 16226 of 2008 Between: S. Md. Fayyum, S/o. S. Mohd. Gouse, R/o. D.No. 1-268, Court Road, Kadiri, Anantapur District. ..... PETITIONER AND The Secretary, Regional Transport Authority, Anantapur, Anantapur District. .....RESPONDENT Petition under Article 226 of the constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the Aﬃdavit ﬁled herein the High Court will be pleased to issue a writ or order or direction more particularly one in the nature of Writ of Mandamus declaring the impugned order dt. 24-6-2008 passed in R.No. 3087/C1/2008 by the respondent herein rejecting the application for release o the vehicle bearing registration No. AP02T3672 from the coverage of permit No. 1/2007 as illegal, arbitrary and violative of the provisions of M.V.Act. consequently direct the respondent to release the said vehicle from the coverage of permit No. 1/2007 by issuing clearance certiﬁcate so as to enable the petitioner to replace the vehicle Counsel for the Petitioner:MR.S.A.RAZAK Counsel for the Respondent No.: GP FOR TRANSPORT The Court made the following : Form-NIC-OGS/WP{RLD} O R D E R:- This writ petition is ﬁled questioning the order dated 24.6.2008 passed by the respondent, whereby the request of the petitioner for release of his vehicle bearing Registration No.AP02T 3672 from the coverage of permit No.1/2007 to enable him to substitute it with a new vehicle, was rejected. The petitioner asserts that he is the owner of the Bus bearing, No.AP02T 3672, which has stage carriage permit No.1/2007 valid upto 12.7.2012 on the town service route from Kadiri Municipality (Koneru) to Kuntlapalli, and is not useful to render services property, and therefore, he decided to dispose of the same by keeping the permit under reserve. Accordingly, he approached the respondent by making appropriate application seeking release of the vehicle from the permit to replace it with a new one without mentioning any time limit. Thereafter, the respondent, by the impugned order, rejected the application of the petitioner on the ground that according to Section 83 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (for short “the Act”) the holder of the permit may with the permission of Transport Authority by which the permit was granted, replace any vehicle covered by the permit with another vehicle of the same nature, but not before the existing vehicle is replaced. Aggrieved by the same, the petitioner has filed this writ petition. At the time of hearing, the learned counsel for the petitioner has brought to the notice of this Court that this Court in W.P.No.9545 of 2008 granted time to the petitioner therein to replace his vehicle with a new one and submitted that following the said order, the petitioner herein may be permitted to replace his vehicle with a new one within six months. Therefore, he sought for a direction to the respondent for release of the vehicle. Heard the learned counsel for both the parties and perused the material placed on record. The petitioner is only seeking release of his vehicle, which has stage carriage permit for disposal. Though it was not represented before the authority that he would replace the vehicle with another one within a particular period of time, it is represented before this Court that he would replace the vehicle with another one within six months from the date of releasing the vehicle in question. In the light of the above undertaking, the permit need not be kept in reserve indefinitely. Therefore, the writ petition is disposed of directing the respondent to release the petitioner’s vehicle on condition that he would replace the vehicle with another one within four months. If the petitioner fails to replace the vehicle within four months, it is always open to the respondent-authority to take appropriate action as provided under law. No order as to costs. ______________ N.V.RAMANA, J 31st July, 2008 Note: Furnish copy in three days B/o bcj