TMI Blog1960 (4) TMI 87X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... arai, Round Tana, Tiruchirapalli Railway Station and retrace again to Round Tana and thence to Golden Rock. The Regional Transport Officer notified this application for variation and called for objections. The appellant's application and the objections thereon were heard on July 15, 1955, but the Regional Transport Officer rejected the application. The appellant filed a Revision Petition before the Government of Madras under s. 64A of the Motor Vehicles Act, hereinafter called the Act, s. 64A having been introduced into that Act by the Legislature of the State of Madras. The Madras Government after having heard objections to the Revision Petition, by its order dated December 28, 1955, set aside the order of the Regional Transport Officer and directed the grant of the variation in the permit of the appellant as prayed for by him. Against the, order of the Madras Government the respondent, the Southern Roadways (Private) Ltd., hereinafter called the respondent, filed a petition under Art. 226, of the Constitution in the Madras High Court on January 2, 1956, for the issue of a writ of certiorari to quash the order of the Government of Madras. When the petition came up for heari ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... undoubtedly power to pass the order in question under s. 64A of the Act. Both these contentions were rejected and the decision of Rajagopalan, J., was affirmed. The High Court, however, granted a certificate that the case was a fit one for appeal to this Court. The principal question for consideration in this appeal is whether the Regional Transport Officer had the power to vary the conditions of a permit to ply a stage carriage. In order to decide that question some sections of the Act, as amended by the Legislature of the State of Madras, will require consideration, particularly the provisions of s. 44A. But before we proceed to do that the other two questions which were decided against the appellant by the High Court may first be considered. In our opinion, although the respondent had submitted to the jurisdiction of the Regional Transport Officer and had not in his petition under Art. 226 in the High Court taken the objection that officer had no jurisdiction to vary the conditions of a permit, the High Court acted rightly in allowing the respondent to urge that the Regional Transport Officer had no jurisdiction to vary the conditions of a permit. It was not until the dec ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ity or officer subordinate to it who had no jurisdiction to pass the order in question under Chapter IV but it could not substitute for that order its own order directing the variation in the conditions of the permit of the appellant. It is significant that s. 43 which deals with the power of the State Government to control Road Transport does not mention that such a Government has the power to vary the conditions of a permit, although the various powers conferred by that section are fully specified, including the power to vary the notification issued under the section. If the Act had intended to give the power to the State Government to vary the conditions of a stage carriage permit granted to a particular person it would have specified such a power in this section. The authority which is empowered to vary the conditions of a permit is stated in s. 48A which certainly is not the State Government. Under the Act, therefore, no such authority was vested in the State Government and the words in s. 64A as it thinks fit must mean within the ambit of the provisions of the Act. Coming now to the question whether the Regional Transport Officer had the power to vary the conditions of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d)(ii-a) which is to the effect that stage carriage or stage carriages shall be used only on specified routes or in a specified area. Section 48A provides for the alteration of the conditions attached to a permit and reads: Any conditions attached to a stage carriage permit in pursuance of cl. (d) of s. 48 may at any time be varied, cancelled or added to by the State Transport Authority, provided that this power shall not be exercised to the prejudice of the holder of the permit without giving not less than three months' notice to him. Section 133A(1) authorises the State Government for the purpose of carrying into effect the provisions of the Act to establish a Motor Vehicles Department and to appoint as officers thereof such persons as it thinks fit. Sub-s. (3) authorises the State Government to make rules to regulate the discharge by officers of the Motor Vehicles Department of their functions and in particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power to prescribe the uniform to be worn by them, the authorities to which they shall be sub ordinate, the duties to be performed by them, the powers (including the powers exercisable by police officers u ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ordination and the third view was pressed by Mr. Nambiar to the effect that the word 'subordinate' meant statutory subordination . It was the third view which was accepted by the Full Bench and the High Court expressed its opinion in the following words: Of the three views placed before us we are inclined to prefer the third. It appears to us to be the most rational and the most free from objections. It is in accord with all well established rules of interpretation of Statutes. It does not require as the theory of 'functional subordination' seems to require, the introduction of now words into the section. It has the merit of being more flexible of powers not merely at the State level but at the regional level also. It ensures that there will be no transfer or delegation of powers except to officers whose subordination has been determined by rules properly framed under the Act. It also ought to avoid the anomaly that has now occurred of a person in the position of a Secretary of a body being empowered to vary the condition of a permit granted by that body. We therefore adopt this view. The High Court in rejecting the view submitted by the Advocate-Genera ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d or Central Board the words State Transport Authority was substituted. On the same date a further definition was added to the Rules by the insertion of cl. (m) in Rule 3 which was to the effect that Transport Department means the Motor Vehicles Department set up under s. 133A of the Act. The Government of Madras issued a Notification No. G. O. MS. 527 on February 14, 1953, wherein it was stated that prior to the decision of the Madras High Court in Writ Petition No. 806 of 1951 the Regional Transport Authorities were varying whenever necessary all the conditions of the permits, but according to the decision of the High Court in that petition the Regional Transport Authorities could not vary the existing conditions of a stage carriage permit imposed under s. 48(d) of the Act and that it was only the State Transport Authority which could do so under s. 48A of the Act. The decision of the High Court resulted in great administrative inconvenience as all applications for variation of conditions of permit would have now to be made to the State Transport Authority which involved delay and inconvenience to operators. It further stated that the Government of India had under c ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nsport Authority under sub-ss. 3(a) and (c) and (4) of s. 44 of the Act. In the discharge of these functions the Transport Commissioner will have administrative control over the Organisation at present working under the Transport Commissioner. Under cl. (4) (ii) the powers under ss. 48A, 51 A and 56A of the Act to alter the conditions of stage carriage permits, contract carriage permits and public carriers permits, exercised by the Regional Transport Officers, would hereafter be exercised by the Regional Transport Authorities. Under cl. 5(1) the Regional Transport Officer would be the Secretary to the Regional Transport Authority and ,in that capacity he would assist the Regional Transport Authority in the performance of the functions prescribed in cl. (4). It is, however, to be remembered that when on July 19, 1954, the appellant applied to the Regional Transport Authority for the variation of the conditions of his permit, the Notification No. G.O. MS. 527 dated February 14, 1953, of the Government of Madras was in force by virtue of which Regional Transport Officers were authorised to discharge the, functions of the State Transport Authority under ss. 48A, 51 A and 56A of the Act ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he Regional Transport Officers, administratively, are subordinate to the Transport Commissioner. Section 44A speaks merely of an officer subordinate to the Transport Commissioner to whom by notification the Government of Madras may confer the authority in lieu of any other authority prescribed by or under the Act to discharge the powers and functions of that authority. It was, however, argued that until rules were framed under s. 133A specifying as to who is subordinate to which authority for the purposes of the Act and the statutory functions to be performed under the Act, administrative subordination is not what is contemplated under s. 44A. On the other hand, on behalf of the appellant it has been urged that effect must be given to the words of s. 44A which did not in tile least indicate in what way the officer has to be subordinate to the Transport Commissioner. It was worthy of notice that s. 44A authorized the State Government, notwithstanding anything contained in the Act, to authorize any officer subordinate to the Transport Commissioner to exercise and discharge in lieu of any other authority such powers and functions as may be exercised by that authority. The section did ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... yet he could be empowered to vary the conditions of a permit which the State Transport Authority, to which the Regional Transport Authority is subordinate, may have declined to do. In the matter of interpretation such considerations cannot be of much assistance. If the words of s. 44A are wide enough to mean any officer subordinate to the Transport Commissioner they must be given effect to. In the matter of interpretation a Court could not, if the words were plain enough, proceed on the basis that possibly the Government of Madras may misuse its powers, We accordingly hold that the Regional Transport Officer, Tiruchirapalli, had jurisdiction to vary the conditions of a permit by virtue of the power conferred Y. on him by the Notification No. G.O. MS. 527 issued by the Government of Madras. Consequently, that Government had the power under s. 64A to do that which the Regional Transport Officer could have done but had refused to do. In our opinion, the appeal must be allowed and the judgments of the single Judge and Appellate Court of the High Court must be set aside and the case remanded to the High Court for the rehearing of the writ petition by the single Judge as several ques ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Balakrishna Ayyar, J., delivering the judgment of the Court, summarized his views thus at p. 602: Of the three views placed before us we are inclined to prefer the third (statutory subordination). It appears to us to be the most rational and the most free from objections. It is in accord with all well established rules of interpretation of Statutes. It does not require as the theory of functional subordination seems to require, the introduction of new words into the section. It has the merit of being more flexible and practical since it permits of the transfer or delegation of powers not merely at the State level but at the regional level also. It ensures that there will be no transfer or delegation of powers except to officers whose subordinate has been determined by rules properly framed under the Act. It also ought to avoid the anomaly that has now occurred of a person in the position of a secretary of a body being empowered to vary the condition of a permit granted by that body. We therefore adopt this view. On the other hand, Satyanarayana Raju, J., speaking for the full bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court, in the latter case summarizes his views thus at p. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the Act by Act 20 of s, 1948 enables the Government to issue administrative directions to Transport Authorities created under the Act. Section 44 empowers the State Government to constitute for the State a State Transport Authority and Regional Transport Authorities for different regions to exercise and discharge throughout their respective areas the powers and functions specified in the Act. Section 44A, which was inserted by Madras Act 20 of 1948, further empowers the State Government to appoint a State Transport Commissioner and by notification authorize him or any officer subordinate to him to exercise and discharge in lieu of any other authority prescribed by or under the Act such powers and functions as may be specified in the notification. The duties and functions of this Authority and its subordinate are confined only to notified statutory functions and duties imposed on other Authorities under this Act in whose place they are appointed. Sections 45 to 56 lay down the procedure to be followed by the Regional Transport Authority in issuing permits in respect of stage, contract, private and public carriages and also confer powers on the said Transport Authority to vary, canc ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... hed a Motor Vehicles Department under s. 133A of the Act and appointed Regional Transport Officers. Their powers are regulated by the rules made under the Act. Under r. 124, the Regional Transport Officer is made the Secretary and executive officer of the Board, i.e., the Regional Transport Authority. Rules 131, 134, 134B and 135 define the duties to be performed by the Secretary. Rule 134A enables the Board, for the prompt and convenient discharge of business, to delegate to the Secretary functions described under that rule. Rule 134A authorizes the Board to give general instructions as to the manner in which the Secretary shall exercise the powers delegated to him. Under r. 147, appeals lie to the Central Board against particular orders of the Secretary and the Board. These rules positively establish that the Regional Transport Officer is subordinate to the Board, i.e., the Regional Transport Authority. He has statutory duties and functions and in discharge of those duties he is under the control of the Board and in the matter of some quasi judicial duties an appeal lies to the Central Road Traffic Board. It is, therefore, manifest that the Regional Transport Officer is appointed ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... r is not made subordinate to the State Transport Commissioner. But what is contended is that though between the Commissioner and the Regional Transport Officer, there is no statutory subordination, the latter was made by the Government administratively subordinate to the Commissioner. There is no order of the Government making the Regional Transport Officer a subordinate to the Commissioner placed before us. The only material is a notification issued by the Government dated October 20,1955, on which reliance is placed to indicate that the Regional Transport Officer is subordinate to the Commissioner. But obviously it has no relevance to the present enquiry, for the notification was issued on a date subsequent to the date of the impugned order. If there was an earlier notification, the State or the appellant would have produced it, but from its nonproduction it may be assumed that there was no such notification. If that is excluded, the only two remaining documents are, (i) The Madras Financial Code giving a list of the heads of departments of the Madras State, and (ii) the Half-Yearly List of Gazetted Officers in the Madras State Government. The former shows the Transport Commissio ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... red to do by rules ? If the Government decides not to exercise the powers conferred under sub-s. (3) of s. 133A, it may withhold from doing so; but it cannot bring about the same result administratively, i.e., by a process other than by way of rules. If the contention were accepted, it would be attributing to the legislature an intention to make an unnecessary Provision. If the State Government could act administratively in regard to matters covered by sub-s. (3), why should the said subsection be made at all'? Either by making rules or without making rules, the Government can achieve the same object. There is an understandable reason for the legislative preference to a statutory rule. Statutory rules are placed before Parliament for its approval, while administrative regulations are entirely in the discretion of the executive government. Statutory authorities under the Act are empowered to exercise powers affecting valuable rights of citizens. The power to issue permits and modify the conditions thereof affects large interests and it may well be that the legislature in insisting upon statutory rules seeks to exercise supervision to prevent abuse of powers. The only reasonable ..... 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