Auto Rickshaw Permits Must Be Allocated In Transparent Manner: Calcutta High Court Directs Transport Dept To Publish Route Vacancies Online

The Calcutta High Court has recently directed the State's Transport Department to publish all route/permit vacancies for plying of auto rickshaws in the State, to enable transparent allocation of the same.

In dismissing an appeal against a single-bench order which refused to interfere with the allocation of auto rickshaw permits for the Howrah-Don Bosco, Liluah route a division bench of Justices Rajasekhar Mantha and Supratim Bhattacharya held:

There may be some substance into individual grievances raised by the petitioners. If the same are entertained, they would not upset a number of awarded permits on a particular route, but could also deprive existing permit holders of rights. This Court is not inclined to interfere with the impugned judgement [but] directs that henceforth all vacancies in any permit on any route would be indicated and published on the website of the concerned RTA in the State.

Petitioners argued that they had applied for auto-rickshaw route permits on the Howrah-Don Bosco, Liluah route in 2018, and that their applications had been rejected, contrary to law.

It was submitted that while filling up the 150 advertised vacancies, the petitioners were “within the zone of consideration” but were overlooked and those ranked below them had been granted permits.

Petitioners argued that a notification for subsequent vacancies under Section 80 of the Motor Vehicles Act was inadequate, and not within the ambit of Section 23 of the General Clauses Act, which required publication in local newspapers, thereby not coming to the petitioner’s attention.

Petitioners argued that they had been wrongfully deprived of plying their trade, and that certain people with favourable dispensation to the ruling government had been granted permits.

State argued that prior to 2018, a large number of permits for plying of auto rickshaws had been granted in an area-wise manner.

It was argued that by a subsequent government notification, distinct routes had been created and only limited permits could be issued for each route, leading to problems in filling up the route-wise vacancies, since existing permit holders fell within the newly allocated routes.

State submitted that in order to ensure that existing permit holders were not deprived of their rights, a certain number of existing permit holders were granted formal permits to ply their trade under the new route-wise system.

It was argued that after filling up the aforesaid vacancies, the petitioner’s applications were considered, and even so, there were many more applicants for the same route, leaving no room for the petitioners to be accommodated.

Court noted that such submissions as advanced by the State, had been heard in the Court below, and that the writ petitioners “deliberately and wilfully” chose not to challenge such submissions and held that the issue had become “academic.”

Accordingly in directing the State to maintain transparency in allocating route-permits for auto-rickshaws, the Court disposed of the plea.

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Cal) 298

Case: Nand Kishor Shaw & Ors. -Versus- State of West Bengal & Anr.

Case No: F.M.A. No. 1311 of 2022

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