Subhash Ganwani vs State Of Madhya Pradesh And Others

Vishal Mishra, J

The present petition has ben filed seeking the following reliefs :-

"(i) The Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to issue a writ of mandamus directing to the respondent No.3 to consider and decide the application (Annex.-P/2) filed by the petitioner for grant of temporary Stage Carriage Permit and may also directed to grant the permit to the petitioner on the Vehicle No. MP-10-P-1280, as applied by them.

(ii) Any other relief which this Hon'ble Court may deem fit in the circumstances of the case, may also be granted to the petitioner, together with the cost of this petition."

It is submitted by the learned counsel for the petitioner that an application for grant of temporary stage carriage permit on the route Balaghat to Seoni via Lalbarra, Barghat and back has been filed by the petitioner, which has not been decided till date. Therefore, an innocuous prayer is made to direct the respondent No.2 to consider and decide the application for grant of temporary permit taking note of the provisions of Section 87(1) (c) of the Motor Vehicles Act, within the stipulated time frame.

Learned counsel appearing for the respondents/State has no objection to the innocuous prayer made by the petitioner. A circular dated 04.06.2014 has been issued by Parivahan Vibhag Mantralaya, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh with respect to consideration of applications for grant of Regular Permits and Temporary Permits within the prescribed period. The relevant extracts reads as under:-

"ऐसी स्थिति में निर्धारित सभी परिवहन प्राधिकरण परमिट हेतु प्राप्त आवेदनों के आधार पर à¤...स्थायी परमिट की स्थिति में 10 दिनों तथा स्थायी परमिट की स्थिति में 30 दिनों की समयावधि में वर्तमान प्रावधानों के à¤...नुसरण में निराकरण करेà¤-ा। संबंधित प्रति माह प्राप्त आवेदन तथा निराकरण की जानकारी à¤...à¤-ले माह की 5 तारीà¤- तक मंत्रालय एवं परिवहन मुà¤-्यालय को आवश्यक रूप से भेजेà¤-ा।"

Section 87 (1) (c) of the Motor Vehicles Act is also important which reads as under :-

"Section 87- Temporary Permits.

(1) A Regional Transport Authority and the State Transport Authority may without following the procedure laid down in section 80, grant permits, to be effective for a limited period which shall, not in any case exceed four months, to authorise the use of a transport vehicle temporarily--

(a) for the conveyance of passengers on special occasions such as to and from fairs and religious gatherings, or

(b) for the purposes of a seasonal business, or

(c) to meet a particular temporary need, or

(d) pending decision on an application for the renewal of a permit, and may attach to any such permit such condition as it may think fit:

Provided that a Regional Transport Authority or, as the case may be, State Transport Authority may, in the case of goods carriages, under the circumstances of an exceptional nature, and for reasons to be recorded in writing, grant a permit for a period exceeding four months, but not exceeding one year.

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), a temporary permit may be granted thereunder in respect of any route or area where

(i) no permit could be issued under section 72 or section 74 or section 76 or section 79 in respect of that route or area by reason of an order of a court or other competent authority restraining the issue of the same, for a period not exceeding the period for which the issue of the permit has been so restrained; or

(ii) as a result of the suspension by a court or other competent authority of the permit of any vehicle in respect of that route or area, there is no transport vehicle of the same class with a valid permit in respect of that route or area, or there is no adequate number of such vehicles in respect of that route or area, for a period not exceeding the period of such suspension. Provided that the number of transport vehicles in respect of which temporary permits are so granted shall not exceed the number of vehicles in respect of which the issue of the permits have been restrained or, as the case may be, the permit has been suspended."

Under these circumstances, this petition is disposed off directing the respondent No.2 to consider and decide pending representation filed by the petitioner taking note of the provisions of Section 87(1)(c) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 within a period of 10 days, in accordance with law from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order and communicate the outcome to the petitioner.

Till the permit is granted, the petitioner will not be permitted to ply his vehicle.

Needless to mention that this Court has not expressed any opinion on the merits of the case.

Accordingly, the petition is disposed off. Certified copy as per rules.