Nadeem Khan And Others vs State Of Uttarakhand And Others

Pankaj Purohit, J

By means of the present writ petition, petitioners have sought a direction to the respondent- Uttarakhand Transport Department including its State Transport Authority (STA) Uttarakhand Dehradun to take final decision upon the applications dated 04.09.2023, 08.09.2023 and 21.09.2023 (Annexure No.7 to the writ petition) moved by petitioners for getting counter signature upon the Stage Carriage Bus Permit of the petitioners in accordance with the provisions under Section 88(5) and (6) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.

It is contended by learned counsel for the petitioners that petitioners are the transport operators who have been plying buses over interstate routes Moradabad-Kashipur-Ramnagar and allied routes. According to petitioners, in the year 2018, an agreement was entered into between the Transport Authorities of State of U.P. and the State of Uttarakhand for granting interstate permits to aforesaid bus operators for the routes mentioned in the Schedule attached to the agreement. The permission granted to petitioners has already been signed by Transport Authorities of State of U.P., however, the same has yet not been countersigned by State of Uttarakhand despite lapse of almost three years. It was contended by petitioners that for almost three years, no decision has been taken by respondent No.3-STA.

This Court vide order dated 28.04.2026 directed learned State Counsel to get clear instruction in the matter as to why the applications of petitioners have not been decided by the respondent authorities in accordance with law and the instructions were directed to be placed before this Court within a week fixing the case for 11.05.2026.

Today, learned State Counsel produced instruction before this Court, which is taken on record.

On the basis of instruction, it is contended by learned State Counsel that there are many shortcomings in the applications moved by petitioners and it is only for the reason that the decision has not been taken as yet.

Learned counsel for respondent No.5 admitted that the Transport Authority of State of U.P. has already put its signature on the permission granted to the petitioners.

Be that as it may, this cannot be a ground to keep the present matter pending for long. Rather it was obligatory on the part of respondent No.3-State Transport Authority (STA) Uttarakhand to take a final decision on the applications moved by petitioners strictly in accordance with law.

In such view of the matter, this writ petition is finally disposed of. It is directed that respondent No.3- State Transport Authority (STA) Uttarakhand, shall consider and decide the applications dated 04.09.2023, 08.09.2023 and 21.09.2023 of petitioners (Annexure No.7 to the writ petition) strictly in accordance with law, within six weeks from the date of production of certified copy of this order, after giving due opportunity to all the stakeholders to the matter.

Pending application, if any, stands disposed of.