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5. Section 72 of the Act deals with grant of stage carriage permits. Sub- section (1) thereof which is relevant, is extracted below :

"72. Grant of stage carriage permit.--(1) Subject to the provisions of section 72, a Regional Transport Authority may, on an application made to it under section 70, grant a stage carriage permit in accordance with the application or with such modifications as it deems fit or refuse to grant such a permit;
Provided that no such permit shall be granted in respect of any route or area not specified in the application."
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6. A careful reading of sub-section (1) of section 72 makes it clear that the Authority is not bound to grant a stage carriage permit as sought. The Authority could either grant the stage carriage permit in accordance with the application or refuse to grant such stage carriage permit or grant the stage carriage permit with such modifications as it deemed fit. The only restriction on the power of the Authority is that it could not grant a permit for a route not specified in the application.

8. The Division Bench proceeded on the basis that when one of the termini is altered by the Authority, then the permit is not granted in respect of the route applied, and it would amount to granting a permit in respect of a route not specified in the application. On a careful consideration, we are of the view that the interpretation by the High Court is without basis. What is prohibited by the proviso to sub-section (1) of section 72 is granting of a permit in respect of any route or area not specified in the application. The said proviso does not prohibit curtailment in regard to portion of the route applied for, for any valid reason. In fact sub-section (1) specifically authorizes the Authority to grant the stage carriage permit with such modifications as it deems fit. Curtailment of a route would be a modification as contemplated under sub-section (1). We may clarify this by an illustration where the application is made for grant of a permit in regard to a route A to D through points B and C. If the grant is made for the route A to C through B, excluding the last portion C to D, it will be a modification which is contemplated and provided for under sub-section (1) of Section 72 of the Act. On the other hand, if the grant is made in regard to route E to F or in regard to route A to E, the grant will be in regard to a route not specified in the application and consequently the permit will be violative of the proviso to sub-section (1) of Section 72 of the Act.

13. The respondent replied by contending that the prohibition under a notification dated 2.8.2004 would not apply to him as his applications were of the years 1997 and 1998 and the grant of permit for curtailed routes were by orders passed in 2000 long prior to the said notification and therefore, the said notification was not relevant.

14. The notification dated 2.8.2004 was pressed into service by the State Government only to counter the argument that some permits for routes up to Kolkata were granted during the pendency of these matters. The question for decision in these appeals is whether the Authority had the power to grant stage carriage permits with modification by curtailing a part of the routes applied. We have already held that the Authority has the power to grant a stage carriage permit in accordance with the application or with such modifications as it deems fit. So long as the reason for the modification is not found to be arbitrary or unreasonable, the question of interfering with the order of the Authority does not arise. The grant of some permits to others for routes touching Kolkata during the pendency of these matters, would not affect the validity of the orders of the Authority, nor be a ground for interfering with the orders of the Authority, as appellants have explained the reason why in some cases, during the pendency of the matter it had to issue permits.