# HANS RAJ KEHAR & ORS v. THE STATE OF U.P. AND ORS

- **Citation:** [1975] 2 S.C.R. 916
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 1974-12-04
- **Case number:** Civil Appeal No. 2072 of 1972
- **Bench:** A. N. Ray, P. Jaganmohan Reddy, H. R. Khanna, P. K. Goswami
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/hans-raj-kehar-ors-v-the-state-of-u-p-and-ors-6371
- **Pages:** 7

## Headnote

8
Motor Vehicles Act, 1939-S.41-Amended by S. 43A of Motor
Vehicles
(U.P. Amendment) Act, 1972- Scope of amendment.
Constitution of India, 1950-If amended section violative of Art, 19(1)(£)
and ( g).
For the purpose of making it easier to s1:cure permits in respect of nonnationalised routes and to simplify the procedure for this purpose s.47 of the
Motor Vehicles Act was amended by inserting s.43-A of the Motor Vehi.cles
(U.P. Amendment) Act, l 972. The section provides that, in the case of nonnationalised routes, if the State Government is of the opinion that it is in the
public interest to grant permits to all eligible applicants it may by notification
in the gazette, issue a direction accordingly. A Notification was issued by the
State Government. The appellant questioned the validity of the section as well
as of the notification both of which were upheld by the High Court.
On appeal it was contended (i) that the State Government issued the impugned notificatio11 without applying its mind, as such a notification under
s.43-A(2) could have been isrued only in public interest; (ii) that the deletion
of s.47 ( 3) would have the effect of removing the limit on the number of permits for mtra-regfon routes but that fact would not prevent tho imposition of
a limit for the nμmber of permits for inter-region routes; and (3) that the
impugned notification is violative of the rights of the appellants under Art.
19(1) (f) and· (g)' of the Constitution.
Dismissing the appeal,
HELD : There is no infirmitir in the impugned notification. Sub-section 2
of s. 43A gives power to the S1ate Government to issue directions in respect
of non-nationalised routes and areas by means of notification in case the Gov~
1,rnment is of the opinion that it is in the public interest to grant perinits to all
eligible applicants. The impugned notification recites that the State Government is of the opinion that it is in the public interest to grant permits for nonnationalised routes and areas to all eligible applicants. The notification
th115
gives all the particulars which are required by the statute. The notification
removed the bar created by the limit on the number of permits for buses which
could be issued and facilitates tb.e issue of such permits to fresh applicants if
they satisfy the requirement of eligibility. Any measure which results
in
larger number of buses operating on various routes would necessarily eliminate
or in any case minimise long hours of waiting at the bus stands. [920 G;
~121 A-BJ
( 2) There is no valid basis for the inference that if there is no limit on the
number of permit!, for intra-region routes, limit on the number of permits for
inter-region routes would have to be imposed. The object of the impugned
notification is to liberalise the issue of permits and it is difficult to see how
such a liberal measure can have the effect of introducing strictness or stringency
in the matter of grant of permits for il).ter-region routes. (921 El
(3) There is no valid basis for holding that the impugned provisions were
violative of Art. :t9. There rs nothing in the notification· which prevents the
i1ppellants from ac:quiring, holding and disposing of their property or prevents
them from practising any profession or from carrying on any occupation. trade
or busmess. The fact that some others have also been enabled to obtain permit for running buses cannot •constitute a violation of the appellants' right
under the above two clauses of Art. 19 of the Constitution. (922 B; 921 GJ
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HANS RAJ v. U.P. STATE (Khanna, /.)
917

## Text

916
HANS RAJ KEHAR & ORS.
A
v.
THE STATE OF U.P. AND ORS.
December 4, 1974
[A. N. RAY, C.J., P. JAGANMOHAN REDDY, H. R. KHANNA AND
P. K. GOSWAMI,, JJ.]
8
Motor Vehicles Act, 1939-S.41-Amended by S. 43A of Motor
Vehicles
(U.P. Amendment) Act, 1972- Scope of amendment.
Constitution of India, 1950-If amended section violative of Art, 19(1)(£)
and ( g).
For the purpose of making it easier to s1:cure permits in respect of nonnationalised routes and to simplify the procedure for this purpose s.47 of the
Motor Vehicles Act was amended by inserting s.43-A of the Motor Vehi.cles
(U.P. Amendment) Act, l 972. The section provides that, in the case of nonnationalised routes, if the State Government is of the opinion that it is in the
public interest to grant permits to all eligible applicants it may by notification
in the gazette, issue a direction accordingly. A Notification was issued by the
State Government. The appellant questioned the validity of the section as well
as of the notification both of which were upheld by the High Court.
On appeal it was contended (i) that the State Government issued the impugned notificatio11 without applying its mind, as such a notification under
s.43-A(2) could have been isrued only in public interest; (ii) that the deletion
of s.47 ( 3) would have the effect of removing the limit on the number of permits for mtra-regfon routes but that fact would not prevent tho imposition of
a limit for the nμmber of permits for inter-region routes; and (3) that the
impugned notification is violative of the rights of the appellants under Art.
19(1) (f) and· (g)' of the Constitution.
Dismissing the appeal,
HELD : There is no infirmitir in the impugned notification. Sub-section 2
of s. 43A gives power to the S1ate Government to issue directions in respect
of non-nationalised routes and areas by means of notification in case the Gov~
1,rnment is of the opinion that it is in the public interest to grant perinits to all
eligible applicants. The impugned notification recites that the State Government is of the opinion that it is in the public interest to grant permits for nonnationalised routes and areas to all eligible applicants. The notification
th115
gives all the particulars which are required by the statute. The notification
removed the bar created by the limit on the number of permits for buses which
could be issued and facilitates tb.e issue of such permits to fresh applicants if
they satisfy the requirement of eligibility. Any measure which results
in
larger number of buses operating on various routes would necessarily eliminate
or in any case minimise long hours of waiting at the bus stands. [920 G;
~121 A-BJ
( 2) There is no valid basis for the inference that if there is no limit on the
number of permit!, for intra-region routes, limit on the number of permits for
inter-region routes would have to be imposed. The object of the impugned
notification is to liberalise the issue of permits and it is difficult to see how
such a liberal measure can have the effect of introducing strictness or stringency
in the matter of grant of permits for il).ter-region routes. (921 El
(3) There is no valid basis for holding that the impugned provisions were
violative of Art. :t9. There rs nothing in the notification· which prevents the
i1ppellants from ac:quiring, holding and disposing of their property or prevents
them from practising any profession or from carrying on any occupation. trade
or busmess. The fact that some others have also been enabled to obtain permit for running buses cannot •constitute a violation of the appellants' right
under the above two clauses of Art. 19 of the Constitution. (922 B; 921 GJ
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HANS RAJ v. U.P. STATE (Khanna, /.)
917
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No. 2072 of 1972.
Appeal from the judgment and order dated May 17 /3rd August,
1972 of the Allahabad High Court in C.W. Petn. No. 2438 of 1972.
S. K. Dhaon and S. M. Markandeya, for the appellants.
D. N. Dikshit and 0. P. Rana, for the respondents.
The Judgment of the Court was. delivered by
KHANNA, J.-The short question which arises in this appeal filed
on certificate: against the judgment of Allahabad High Court is the
validity of section 43A, inserted in the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939 by
U.P. Act No. 25 of 1972, and the notification dated March 30, 1972
issued under: that section.
The High Court upheld the validity of the
section and the notification.
The material part of section 47 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939
(Act No. 4 of 1939), as it stood before the amendment made by section 43A in Uttar Pradesh, read as under :
"(1) A Regional Transport Authority shall, .in considering an application for a stage carriage permit, have regard to
the following matters, namely :- .
(a) the interest 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 broke•;
( 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 aforded 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;
(f) the condition of the roads included in the proposed
route or area;
and shall also take into consideration any representations
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 facHities 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;
(2) ....
•• ~r ......
, ....
(3) A Regional Transport Authority may, having regard
to the matters mentioned in sub-section ( 1), limit the number
·918
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
(197 5] 2 s.c.R.
af stage carriages aenerally, or of any specified type for which
stage carriage permits may befanted in the region or in any
specified area or any specifle ro\lte within the region."
Section 43A bas been inserted by the Motor Vehicles (Uttnr Pradesh
Amendment) Act, 1972 (U.P. Act No. 25 of 1972). The material
part of section 43A reads as under:-·
"(1) The State Government may issue such directions of
a general character as it ma.y com1ider necessary or expedient in the public interest in respect of any matter relating to
road transport to the State Transport Authority or to any
Regional Transport Authority, and such Transport Authority
shall give effect to all such directions .
•
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing
power, where the State Government is of opinion that it is
.in the public interest to grant stage carriage permits (ex-
.cept in respect of routes or areas for which schemes have been
published undt:r section 68 ( C) or contract carriage permits
or public cattier permits to all eligible applicants, it may by
notification in the Gazette issue a direction accordingly, and
thereupon all transport authorities as well as the State Transport Appellate Tnbunal constituted under section 64 shall
proceed to consider and decide all applications, appeals and
revisions in that behalf (including any pending applications,
appeals and revisions) aa if-
( a) in section 47,-
(i) for sub-section ( 1) the following sub-section
were substituted :
'(i) A Regional Transport Authority shall,
in considering an application for a· stage carriage permit, have 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 benefit to any particular locality or
localities likely to be afforded by the service;
and shall also take into consideration any reJ'resentation made by any local authority or
police authority within whose jurisdiction any
part of the proposed route or area lies.';
(ii) sub-section (3) were omitted;
"
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HANS RAJ V. U.P. STATE (Khan~, /.)
919
The impugned notification dated March 30, 1972 reads as under:
"WHEREAS the state government is of opinion that it is in
the public interest to grant stage carriage permits (except in
respect of routes or areas for which schemes have been
published under section 68C of the Motor Vehicles
Act,
1939), contract carriage permits and public carrier permits
to all eligible applicants;
Now, therefore, in exercise of the power conferred by section 4.3A of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939, the Governor is
pleased to direct that stage carriage permits (except in respect of routes or areas aforesaid), contract carriage permits
and public carriey permits shall be granted according to the
provision of the said Act to all eligible applicants."
The petitioner-appellants hold stage carriage permits for operating
buses on various routes in Uttar Pradesh.
It is not necessary to set
out any other fact because all that we are concerned with is the validity of section 43A and the notification issued thereunder.
The Motor Vehicles (Uttar Pradesh Amendment) Act,
1972
(U.P. Act No. 25 of 1972) received the assent of the President on
May 1, 1972 and was published in the U.P. Gazette of the same date.
Before that the Governor of U.P. had promulgated U.P. Ordinance
No. 9 of 1972. U.P. Act No. 25 of 1972 took the place of that ordinance.
The ordinance was repealed by section 3 of the amending
Act. The following Statement of Objects and Reasons
was
given
when introducing the Bill which. after being passed by the legislature
took the shape of the amending Act :
·
"Operators engage in a race for securing permits for stage
carriages on non-nationalised routes.
Due to limitation on
the number of permits this business is controlled by a few
persons.
Complaints in this regard are made every other
day.
Therefore, with a view to making it easier to secure
permits in respect of non-nationalised routes and to introducing simplicity in procedure and to providing greater employment and securing equitable distribution thereof it was con·
sidered necessary to amend sections 47, 50, 55, 57 and 64
of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939, suitably.
Accordingly,
in the public interest and with the aforesaid objects in view
the Motor Vehicles (Uttar Pradesh Amendment) Ordinance,
1972 was promulgated.
This Bill is introduced to replace
the said ordinance."
Perusal of section 43A shows that the object of the le~slature · in
inserting it in the Motor Vehicles Act was to make it easier to secure
permits in respect of non-nationalised routes.
The section seeks to
simplify the procedure for this purpose. It has accordingly been pro
vided that in the case of non-nationalised routes if the State Govern·
ment is of the opinion that it is in the public interest to grant permits to all eligible applicants, it may by notification in the Gazett~
issue a direction accordingly.
Once such notification is issued
a
number of consequences which have been enumerated in the various
920
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
(1975] 2 S.C.R.
clauses of sub-section (2) of section 43A, . follow.
One effect of
A
such notification is that the transport authorities shall proceed
to
consider and decide applications, appeals and revisions (including
pending applications appeals and revisions) as if sub-section
(3)
ot section 47 were omitted.
Under that sub-section a Regional Transport Auth<~rity was required to limit the number. of stage carriages
generally, or of any specified type for which stage carriage permits
might be granted in the region or in any specified area or o~ any
B
specified route within the region.
As a consequence of the omission
of that sub-section, it would be no longer necessary for the Regional
Transport Authority to put a limit on the number of stage carriage
permits.
The result would be that it would be permissible to issue
any nw11.ber of such permits having regard to the interest of the public generally,. the advantage to the public of the service to be provided, including the saving of time likely to be effected thereby and
C
any convenience arising from journeys not being broken as also the
benefit to any particular locality or localities likely to be
afforded
by the service.
The Regional Transport Authority has also to take
into consideration any representations made by a local authority or
police authority within whose jurisdiction any part of the proposed
route or area lies.
Sub-section ( 1) of sec!ion 43A clothes the State
Government with power to issue directions of a general character as
D
it may consider necessary or expedient in the public interest in respect of any matter relating to road transport.
The transport autborities have been enjoined to give effect to all such directions.. The
State Government in exercise of the power conferred apparently by
sub-section (2) of section 43A has issued the impugned notification
dated March 30, 1972 in respect of routes or areas for which schemes
have not been published under section 68C of the Motor Vehicles
E
Act. According to the notification, contract carriage permits and
public carrier permits shall, except in respect of routes or areas men·
tioned above, be granted accordin& to the provisions of tho said Act
to au eligible applicants.
I
It bas been argued on behalf of the appellants th1tt t!!e State Government issued the impugned notification without appLying its mind,
as such a notification under sub-section (2) of section 43A could
have been issued only in public interest. We are unable to accede
to this contention as we find no such infumity in the impugned notifi.-
cation. Sub-s;ection (2) of section 43A gives power to the State
Government t.o issue direction in respect of non-nationalised routes
and areas bv means of notification in case that Government is of fo.e
opinion that it is in the public interest to grant permits to all eligible
applicants.
The impugned notification recites that the State Government is of the opinion that it is in the public interest to grant permits
for non-nationalised routes and areas to all eligible applicants.
The
notification thus gives all the particulars which are required by th-c
statute. It is no doubt true that the St:.te Government failed to file
a return in the High Court in support of its plea that the impugned
notification wa.s issued because the Government was of the opinion that
it was in the public interest to grant permits to all eligible applicants,
but that omission, in our opinion, is not very material as that fact is
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HANS RAJ V, U.P, STATB (Khanna, /,)
921
self-evident from the notification. The notification removes the bar
created by the limit on the number of permits for buses which could .
be issued and facilitates the issue of such permits to fresh applicants
if they satisfy the requirement of eligibility. It hardly need much
argument to show that the larger number of buses operating on different routes would be for the convenience and benefit of the travelling public and as such would be in the public interest. Arty measure
which results in larger nwnber of buses operating on various routes
would necessarily eliminate or in any case minimise long hours of
waiting at the bus stands. It would also relieve congestion and provide for quick and prompt transport service.
Good transport service
is one of the basic requirements of a progressive society. Prompt and
quick transport service being a great boon for those who travel, any
measure which provides for such an amenity is in the veny nature of
things in the public interest
·
Argument has also been · advanced that the deletion of section
4 7 ( 3) would have the effect of removing the limit on the number of
permits for intra·region route:; but that fact would not prevent the
imposition of a limit for the number of permits for inter-region routes.
This argulnent has been advanced in the ·context of the case of the
appellants that the. impugned provisions discriminate in the matter of
issue of permits for intra-region routes and those for inter-region routes and as such are violative of article 14 of the Constitution. We
are not impressed by this argument for we find no valid basis for the
inference that if there is no limit on the number of permits for intraregion routes, limit on the number of permits for inter-region routes
would have to be imposed. The object of the impugnep notification is
to liberalise the issue of permits and we fail to see as to how such a
liberal . measure can have the effect of introducing strictness or. stringency in the matter of grant of permits for inter-region routes. Assuming that a different rule is applicable in the matter of inter-region
routes, the differentiation is based upon reasonable classification. It
is nobody's case that the impugned provision brings about discrimination in the matter of grant of permits between applicants belonging
to the same class. The argume!lt about the impugned provision being
violative of article 14 is wholly untenabl~.
·
The. contention that the impugned notification is violative of the
rights of the appellants under article 19(1 )(£) or (g) of the Constitution is equally devoid of force. There is nothing in the notification
which prevents the appellants from acquiring, holding and disposing
of their property or prevents them from practising any profession or
from carrying on any occupation. trade or business. . The fact that
some others have also been enabled to obtain permits for running
buses cannot constitute a violation of the appellants' rights under the
above two clauses of article 19 of the Constitution. The above provisions are not intended to grant a kind of monopoly to a few bus
operators to the exclusion of other eligible oersons. No
ri.11:ht
is
guaranteed to any private• party by article 19 of the Constitution of
c~rrving on trade and business without competition from other eligi·
ble persons. Clause ('g) of article 19(1) gives a right to all citizens
subject to article 19(6) to practise any profession or to carry on any
12-L 346 Sup.Cl/75
.
922
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1975] 2 s.c.R.
occupation, trade or business. It is an enabling provision and does
,\
not confer a right on those already practising a profession or carrying
on any occupation, trade or business to exclude and debar fresh eligible entrants from practising that profession or from carrying on that
occupation, trade or business. The said provision is not intend1~d to
make any profession, business or trade the exclusive preserve of a few
persons. We, therefore, find no valid basis for holding that'thc impugned provisions arc violative of article 19.
B
The appeal consequently fails and is dismissed with c 1sts.
Appeal dismissed
P.B.R.