Madras High Court Palraj vs The Regional Transport Officer on 20 December, 2017 BEFORE THE MADURAI BENCH OF MADRAS HIGH COURT DATED: 20.12.2017 RESERVED ON:07.12.2017 DELIVERED ON:20.12.2017 CORAM THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE M.VENUGOPAL AND THE HONOURABLE MRS.JUSTICE R.THARANI W.P.(MD)No.6288 of 2017 and W.M.P(MD)No.16210 of 2017 Palraj Petitioner .vs. 1.The Regional Transport Officer, O/o. Reginal Transport (Central), K.K.Nagar, Madurai ? 20. 2.The Regional Transport Officer, O/o.Regional Transport(South), Palanganatham, Madurai ? 625 003. 3.The Regional Transport Officer, O/o.Regional Transport (North), K.Pudur, Madurai ? 625 007. 4.The Principal Secretary to Government, Transport Department, Secretariat, Fort St. George, Chennai 9. 5.R.Pandian 6.Anvar 7.M.Prabakaran 8.R.Muthu 9.P.Kasimayan 10.N.Jamaldheen 11.G.Guru 12.D.Suresh Kumar 13.V.Kannan 14.P.Mani 15.A.Sivaranjani 17.P.Ravi 18.R.Mariasamy 19.G.Ganesan 20.Kattuva Ravuthar 21.M.Mohamed Salim 22.P.Palpandi 23.M.Alagarsamy 24.A.Ravichandran 25.S.Karthick Kumar 26.K.Thangamani 27.V.Jothi Krishnan 28.S.Saravanan 29.P.Thangapandi 30.S.Kasimayan 31.P.Arokiya Mary 32.A.Jeyaprakash 33.V.Priyakaruppan 34.R.Rajesh 35.P.Rajesh Muthukumar 36.M.Vasuki 37.T.Senthil Murugan (R4 is impleaded vide Court order dated 19.07.2017 in WP(MD)No.6288 of 2017) (R5 to R37 are impleaded vide Court order dated 11.09.2017 in W.M.P(MD)Nos.12406, 12932 to 12934 of 2017) : Respondents PRAYER: Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying this Court for issuance of a Writ of Mandamus forbearing the Respondents from granting permits to the 'Diesel Share Autos' instead of granting permits to the 'LPG Autos'. !For Petitioner :Mr.Thiagarajan, Learned Senior Counsel for M/s.Right Law Associates ^For R1 to R4 :Mr.M.Govindan, Special Government Pleader For R5 to R37 :M/s.J.Anandhavalli :ORDER [Order of the Court was made by M.VENUGOPAL, J.] The Petitioner has preferred the instant Writ Petition praying for passing of an order by this Court in forbearing the Respondents from granting permits to 'Diesel Share Autos' instead of granting permits to 'LPG Autos'. 2. Heard both sides. INTRODUCTION: 3. According to the Petitioner, there are about 14,000 share Autos, which are running on 'Diesel' in Madurai City and within the District Limits. The Drivers of the ShareAutos are stopping the Autos for picking up and dropping the passengers at any place. They occupy most of the carriage space at busstops and force the buses to halt in the middle of the roads. They are driving the Autos rashly and stopped the Autos at their will without giving signals. As a matter of fact, the Transport Authorities permitted that they can carry three passengers only, apart from the Driver in 'Diesel Autos', but the Drivers are carrying nine to ten passengers for a trip and the overcrowded Autos are one of the main reasons for traffic problems in the city. 4. The version of the Petitioner is that large number of ShareAutos, which are plying on Diesel are polluting the environment. Indeed, the Diesel emissions discharged from the 'ShareAutos' contribute to the development of Cancer, Cardiovascular and respiratory health effects and also polluting the Air, Water, Soil etc. The Central Government is granting permit only to the regular Autos, which are plying on Liquid Petroleum Gas(LPG) and ensuring the protection of Environment by preventing the 'Diesel Autos' like Delhi etc. The Respondents are granting permit and licence to the 'ShareAutos' ie., those who are applied for permit in respect of 'L.P.G Autos' against the terms and conditions of the Transport. Therefore, the Petitioner filed an Application under the Right to Information Act, 2005 before the First Respondent/Regional Transport Officer, Regional Transport(Central), K.K.Nagar, Madurai as regards the replacement of permit of the ShareAuto to the permit holders, the LGP Autos. However, there is no response. 5. The Petitioner proceeds to aver in this Writ Petition that he came to know of the letter dated 09.09.2016 sent by the First Respondent/Regional Transport Officer, Regional Transport(Central), K.K.Nagar, Madurai, to one Jayakumar intimating that from 14.08.2015 onwards, the Transport Department stopped granting permits to the Diesel Autos