High court asks tribunal to decide on route permit disputes of Punjab transporters

Since an identical issue is involved in all appeals, it is appropriate for the tribunal to decide the lead case in 15 days, says Punjab and Haryana high court

The Punjab and Haryana high court on Wednesday referred to the state transport appellate tribunal the petitions on route permit disputes between the Punjab government and private transporters.

The Punjab and Haryana high court was dealing with a bunch of petitions, including some filed by the state government, in which the tribunal’s stay order was challenged.

The court was dealing with a bunch of petitions, including some filed by the state government, in which the tribunal’s stay order was challenged.

“In all the appeals, an identical issue is involved. Therefore, it is appropriate for the tribunal to decide the lead case positively within a period of 15 days,” the bench of Justice Anil Kshetarpal said while disposing of the pleas.

The court said that all the counsels would be allowed to assist the tribunal so that the issue is decided in the lead case to facilitate expeditious disposal of the remaining cases. The parties through their counsels were directed to appear before the tribunal on November 11 to work out the modalities of procedure to be followed at the time of hearing, the bench said.

The Punjab transport commissioner had cancelled the extension of the original permits beyond 24 km to a large number of transporters in the state. One such order was passed on October 18, cancelling the extension with an immediate effect.

The transporter concerned had approached the tribunal on November 1 against the decision and the latter stayed the October 18 order. Following this, other transporters too had obtained stay orders on November 3 from the tribunal. The government had challenged the November 1 order in the high court.