Permit limit fixing is an administrative step distinct from permit grant, and valid prior determination may be inferred from the record.
The SC stated that fixing the number of stage carriage permits under Section 47(3) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939 is an administrative, antecedent step distinct from the quasi-judicial process of granting permits, so operators need not be heard under the Section 57 procedure at that stage. It further held that Section 47(3) is confined to permits within a region and does not directly govern inter-State or inter-regional permits, although authorities may regulate services by agreement. On the facts, the Court accepted that valid prior determinations of permit limits could be inferred from the record and the ensuing notifications even without a separate formal order.
Issues: (i) Whether the Regional Transport Authority, while fixing the number of stage carriage permits under Section 47(3) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939, was required to hear operators and follow the hearing procedure applicable to grant of permits; (ii) whether Section 47(3) applied to inter-State and inter-regional permits; (iii) whether, on the facts, the various notifications, resolutions and approvals amounted to a valid determination of the permit limit before grant of permits.
Issue (i): Whether the Regional Transport Authority, while fixing the number of stage carriage permits under Section 47(3) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939, was required to hear operators and follow the hearing procedure applicable to grant of permits.
Analysis: The scheme of the Act distinguishes between the power to fix the number of permits and the separate power to grant permits. The hearing and representation procedure under Section 57 is directed to applications for grant of permits, not to the antecedent act of limiting the number of permits under Section 47(3). When acting under Section 47(3), the authority is to have regard to the statutory factors in Section 47(1) but is not bound to hear operators or invite representations of the type contemplated for grant proceedings. The fixing of the limit is therefore an administrative determination in aid of later permit proceedings.
Conclusion: The Regional Transport Authority was not obliged to hear operators while fixing the limit under Section 47(3).
Issue (ii): Whether Section 47(3) applied to inter-State and inter-regional permits.
Analysis: Section 47(3) is confined to the region in which the Regional Transport Authority functions and speaks of limiting permits in the region or in a specified area or route within the region. Inter-State permits depend on countersignature by the other State and inter-regional permits involve the authority of another region. Reading Sections 45, 63 and the connected provisions harmoniously, the Court held that the statutory limit-fixing power under Section 47(3) does not directly govern inter-State or inter-regional permits, though the authorities concerned may act by agreement to regulate the number of services.
Conclusion: Section 47(3) did not apply to inter-State or inter-regional permits.
Issue (iii): Whether, on the facts, the various notifications, resolutions and approvals amounted to a valid determination of the permit limit before grant of permits.
Analysis: The Court held that the requirement is one of substance and not form. A valid order under Section 47(3) can be inferred from the record where the Regional Transport Authority, after traffic survey, proposal by the Secretary, concurrence between authorities, or approval to open a new route or add buses, thereafter issued notification under Section 57(2) calling for applications. In such circumstances, the notification and surrounding record sufficiently showed that the number of permits had been determined before the grant proceedings, even if no separate formal order existed in every case.
Conclusion: On the facts of the appeals, the record disclosed valid prior determinations of the permit limit in the cases where relief was granted.
Final Conclusion: The appeals substantially succeeded on the main issue. The impugned orders were set aside in the relevant matters, and the cases were remitted for consideration on merits on the footing that valid determinations under Section 47(3) had been made or, in the case of inter-State and inter-regional routes, that the provision was inapplicable.
Ratio Decidendi: The power to fix the number of stage carriage permits under Section 47(3) is an administrative, antecedent step distinct from the quasi-judicial process of granting permits, and a valid prior determination may be inferred from the record and consequent notification even without a formal speaking order.
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