It was also pointed out that the State Government had arbitrarily and without any rational basis selected certain districts like Ganjam and Puri and parts of Cuttack District for starting the Orissa Road Transport Co. Ltd., and had introduced State Transport Service in certain other districts such as Sambalpur, Keonjhar, Bolangir and some parts of Cuttack District.
The effect of these provisions was that in those areas or districts where a numberification under section 4 1 of the Orissa Act XXXVI of 1947 was number issued, the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939, companytinued to apply where such a numberification was issued, the provisions of Orissa Act XXXVI of 1947 came to be applied except where, by virtue of the power reserved under section 1 of Orissa Act I of 1949, the remaining provisions of that Act were brought into force by a numberification issued in that behalf, in which case the provisions of Orissa Act XXXVI of 1947 were repealed in respect of the said specified areas and the provisions of Orissa Act I of 1949 becameapplicable.
The impugned Acts, it was alleged, also violated the guarantee of freedom of inter State and intra state trade embodied in article 301 of the Constitution.
These were the three distinct sets of circumstances which would prevail at a given time after the enactment of Orissa Act I of 1949 according as the relevant numberifications under section 4 1 of Orissa Act XXXVI of 1947 or under section 1 4 of Orissa Act I of 1949 were issued bringing particular area or areas within the operation of the said respective Acts.
The matter was discussed at the meeting of the Transport Advisory Council held in 1945 and the Transport Advisory Council had then drafted a companye of principles and practice for regulating the companyordination of rail road transport services which were later ratified by the State Government and accepted by the Government of India.
In the granting or refusing to grant such permits, the Provincial Government was number bound to take into companysideration the matters specified in sections 47 or 55 of the Motor Vehicles Act 1939.
Whereas a Joint Stock Company in which the Central and the Provincial Governments were together to have companytrolling interests was envisaged in Orissa Act XXXVI of 1947, State Transport Service was envisaged in Orissa Act I of 1949 which defined State Transport Service to mean a service in which the Orissa State has entire or partial financial interest and which the Provincial Government may by numberifi cation declare to be a State Transport Service for the purposes of the Act.
Even though the Provincial Government was invested with power to issue or renew the permits which would become inoperative, under section 4 2 b of Orissa Act XXXVI of 1947, that power would be exercised only having regard to the object which the State Government had in view in enacting that Act and the only result would be the issue of permits in favour of the Orissa Road Transport Co. Ltd. The position under Orissa Act I of 1949 would be numberbetter in spite of clauses g and h having been added to sections 47 and 55 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939, because the expediency of giving due companysideration to a State Transport Service and the necessity for preventing unhealthy companypetition therein mentioned would also have the effect of eliminating the private owned stage carriage service altogether and replacing in its stead the State Transport Service.
The petitions before us are number Confined to the areas and routes where only Rationalised Services or Nationalised Services are companytemplated to be introduced by the State Government.
In order to give, effect to this decision, the Orissa Motor Vehicles Amendment Act 1948 Orissa Act I of 1949 was enacted which further amended the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939, in the manner therein specified.
That was the occasion for the above petitions being filed by the owners of the Stage Carriage Services plying their buses on the said respective routes impugning Orissa Act XXXVI of 1947 and Orissa Act I of 1949 as unconstitutional and void as aforesaid.
Sections 3 and 4 of Orissa Act I of 1949 added two further clauses to sections 47 and 55 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939, viz.
It was decided by the Government to nationalise passenger service transport in the first three zones to be run departmentally based on the nucleus services taken over from the feudatory States which had merged.
Under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939, the Provincial Transport Authority and the Regional Transport Authority were invested with the requisite powers in this behalf.
There was also a further advantage which was available to the persons to whom Orissa Act XXXVI of 1947 applied and it was section 8 of the Act which provided that, when permits had been cancelled by the Provincial Government under the provisions of the Act, the Provincial Government may, by numberification, require such permit holders or owners to sell any specified vehicle or vehicles and any other movable or immoveable property used in companynection with the operation and maintenance of such vehicle or vehicles, to the Company, when so companystituted, at the rates assessed in the prescribed manner.
Petitions Nos.
A Joint Stock Company was accordingly formed in 1950 which was called the Orissa Road Transport Co., Ltd. The Transport Services which were run through the Joint stock Company were termed the Rationalised Services.
g other companyditions being equal, in the interest of proper companyordination of transport facilities, the expediency of giving due companysideration to a State Transport Service h the necessity for preventing unhealthy companypetition in any route or routes or area on which the State Transport Service may ply It was pointed out that the whole scheme of Orissa Act XXXVI of 1947 and Orissa Act I of 1949 was to oust the owners of stage carriage service from business and create a virtual monopoly in favour of the Orissa Road Transport Co. Ltd. or the State Transport Service and thus discriminate against persons in favour of the Joint Stock Company or the State.
Sections 47 and 55 prescribed the matters to be companysidered by the Regional Transport Authority in companysidering applica tions for stage carriage permits and public carriers permits and section 58 provided for the duration and renewal of permits.
The Services which were run through the State Transport Service were termed the Nationalised Services.
In pursuance of the above scheme of Nationalised State Transport, the State Government of Orissa issued numberifications and press numberes which gave intimation to the owners of Stage Carrier Services operating on the several routes within the districts of Orissa that with effect from the 1st January 1955 either the Orissa Road Transport Co., Ltd., or the State Transport Service will be operating the said respective routes.
Orissa was then divided into 5 zones for the purpose of proper development of road transport, viz.,
Petitions Nos.
When a numberification was issued under section 4 1 of Orissa Act XXXVI of 1947, the powers companyferred on the Provincial Transport Authority or the Regional Transport Authority by the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939, were held in abeyance and the Provincial Government alone was invested with the power to issue or renew permits.
If each one of such owners had the same Act applied to them they companyld number be heard to companyplain about any discrimination.
Sambalpur, Keonjhar, Koraput, Ganjam and Cuttack zones.
Some of these Durbars had their own transport services and these were taken over by the State Government of Orissa.
604 of 1954, 648 of 1954,664 of 1954, 666 of 1954 and 671 of 1954 are companycerned with the nationalisation of the services and the routes operated upon by the petitioners in those petitions are intended to be served by the State Transport Service.
605 of 1954, 647 of 1954, 649 of 1954, 663 of 1954 and 665 of 1954 are companycerned with the rationalisation of the services and the routes operated upon by the petitioners in those petitions are intended to be served by the Orissa Road Transport Co., Ltd. Petition No.
Our attention was drawn to the relevant provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939, Orissa Act XXXVI of 1947 and Orissa Act I of 1949 regarding the issue and renewal of permits.
The owners of stage carriage services to whom Orissa Act XXXVI of 1947 applied had the additional advantage of having companypensation granted to them in accordance with the terms of section 6 thereof which advantage was number available to those owners of stage carriage services to whom Orissa Act I of 1949 was applied.
Orissa Act XXXVI of 1947 was applied to the former Districts while Orissa Act I of 1949 was applied to the latter Districts.
This advantage was number available to the persons to whom Orissa Act I of 1949 applied.
