E-Paper
HC refuses to stay mini-bus permit scheme in Punjab
The Punjab and Haryana high court on Tuesday refused to stay the Punjab government scheme of granting new mini-bus permits in rural areas.
The Punjab and Haryana high court on Tuesday refused to stay the Punjab government scheme of granting new mini-bus permits in rural areas.
The petition was filed by the existing operators arguing that the proposed policy will lead to wholesale and unchecked grant of mini-bus permits, congest the rural transport market and upset the transport scheme in state.
The government on Tuesday argued that the scheme has been floated to check monopoly and undue profiteering in the transport business. Additional advocate general Rameeza Hakeem had contended that the petition was nothing but a ruse to keep new operators out, cartelise rural transport, and maintain the monopoly of current bus operators, many of whom have been operating on routes for past 25 years without healthy competition.
As state told court that June 30 deadline for receipt of application was merely for the purpose of administrative convenience, and that the process for granting permits is likely to take some time, the high court bench of justice Rajan Gupta and justice Karamjit Singh deferred the hearing till August 10.
The scheme announced during the budget session this year envisages grant of stage carriage permits on 1,400 rural routes to buses up to 35 seats. It was initially notified on March 16 with a deadline of April 16 but later extended up to June 30.
