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Judgment
P.N. Ravindran, J.—The Petitioner is a stage carriage operator operating a stage carriage on the route Munambam-Ernakulam High Court Junction, on the strength of Ext.P1 permit. Though the permit was valid upto 30.7.2012, the Petitioner could not operate the stage carriage for some time as he had taken steps to replace the existing vehicle and disputes arose in the process with the intending purchaser of the existing vehicle. Later, the Petitioner filed an application for temporary permit to operate a stage carriage in the vacancy. He thereafter filed W.P.(C) No. 20700 of 2010 in this Court for a direction to the second Respondent to consider the application for temporary permit. By Ext.P2 judgment delivered on 2.7.2010, this Court directed the Secretary, Regional Transport Authority, Ernakulam to consider the Petitioner''s application for temporary permit with notice to the intending purchaser of the stage carriage described in Ext.P1 permit. The Secretary of Regional Transport Authority thereafter passed Ext.P3 order granting 20 days substituted temporary permit to the Petitioner to operate the stage carriage KL-06-D-5267 on the route Munambam-Ernakulam High Court Junction in the place of bus bearing Registration No. KL-07-AM-2353. The application submitted by the intending purchaser of the said vehicle was rejected. On the strength of Ext.P3, Ext.P4 temporary permit was issued and it was valid during the period from 28.10.2010 to 16.11.2010. Thereafter, Ext.P5temporary permit was issued in renewal covering the period from17.11.2010 to 6.12.2010. Though the Petitioner submitted Ext.P6application on 3.12.2010 for renewal of the said temporary permit, orders were not passed thereon, as result of which the Petitioner was forced to stop the operation of the stage carriage. This writ petition is filed contending that as temporary permit was ordered to be issued byExt.P3 order and it was being periodically renewed, the second Respondent ought to have acted on Ext.P6 application and granted are newal of the temporary permit. In this writ petition, the Petitioner seeks a direction to the second Respondent to consider Ext.P6application for temporary permit and pass orders thereon within a time limit to be fixed by this Court.
It is evident from the materials on record that on the strength of Ext.P3 order, the second Respondent has been issuing temporary permit of 20 days to the operate the stage carriage KL-06-D-5267 on the route Munambam-Ernakulam High Court Junction. The last of the renewals was upto 6.12.2010. In view of Ext.P3 order, I W.P.(C) No. 58 of 2011 am of the opinion that the second Respondent ought to have granted a renewal of Ext.P5 permit on the basis of Ext.P6 application.
I accordingly dispose of the writ petition with a direction to the second Respondent to pass orders on Ext.P6 application and to issue a temporary permit of 20 days duration expeditiously and in any event, within one week from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this judgment.