Tamil nadu act 016 of 1971 : Motor Vehicles (Tamil Nadu Second Amendment) Act, 1971

Section 1. Shore title, extent and commencement

1. Shore title, extent and commencement.- (1) This Act may be called the Motor Vehicles (Tamil Nadu Second Amendment) Act, 1971.

(2) It extends to the whole of the State of Tamil Nadu.

(3) It shall be deemed to have come into force on the ??? June, 1971.

Section 2. Amendment of section 47, Central Act IV of 1939

2. Amendment of section 47, Central Act IV of 1939.- In section 47 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939 (Central Act IV of 1939) (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act),-

(1) in sub-section (1),-

(i) clause (c) shall be omitted;

(ii) clause (cc) shall be relettered as clause (c);

(2) for sub-section (3), the following sub-section shall be substituted, namely:-

"(3) A Regional Transport Authority may after taking into consideration the interests of the general public and the adequacy of other passenger transport services-operating or likely to operate in the near future, whether by road or other means, between the places to be served, by order-

(a) limit the number of stage carriages generally or of any specified type for which stage carriage permits may be granted in the region or in any specified area or on any specified route within the region; or

(b) open any new route;

and such order shall be final."

Section 3. Amendment of section 48, Central Act IV of 1939

3. Amendment of section 48, Central Act IV of 1939.- In sub-section (1) of section 48 of the principal Act, after the expression "Subject to the provisions of section 47", the expression, "and section 62-A" shall be inserted.

Section 4. Insertion of new section 48-A in Central Act IV of 1939

4. Insertion of new section 48-A in Central Act IV of 1939.- After section 48 of the principal Act, the following, section shall be inserted, namely:-

"48-A. Benami applications for stare carriage permits to be rejected.- Not with standing anything contained in this Act, a Regional Transport Authority shall refuse to grant or renew a stage carriage permit if it appears to such authority, after making such enquiry, as it deems fit, that the application for such permit is benami:

Provided that no such refusal shall be made unless the Regional Transport Authority has given the 7 applicant a reasonable opportunity of being heard."

Section 5. Amendment of section 57, Central Act IV of 1939

5. Amendment of section 57, Central Act IV of 1939.- After the proviso to sub-section (3) of section 57 of the principal Act the following proviso shall be added, namely:-

"Provided further that no representation shall be made under this sub-section against any order of the Regional Transport Authority under sub-section (3) of section 47.".

Section 6. Amendment of section 59, Central Act IV of 1939

6. Amendment of section 59, Central Act IV of 1939.- In sub-section (1) of section 59 of the principal Act, after the expression "Save as provided in section 61", the expression "and subject to the provisions of sections 62-D and 62-E" shall be inserted.

Section 7. Amendment of section 60, Central Act IV of 1939

7. Amendment of section 60, Central Act IV of 1939.- In sub-section (1) of section 60 of the principal Act, after clause (a), the following clauses shall be inserted, namely:-

"(dd) if the holder of the stage carriage permit has made a wrong statement about the number of stage carriage permits held by him on the date of the application, or

(ddd) if, subsequent to the grant of the stage carriage permit it is brought to the notice of the transport authority that the stage carriage permit is held by the grantee as a benamidar, or".

Section 8. Insertion of new sections 62-A to 62-E in Central Act IV of 1939

8. Insertion of new sections 62-A to 62-E in Central Act IV of 1939.- After section 62 of the principal Act, the following sections shall be inserted, namely:-

"62-A. Ceiling on stage carriage permits.- Notwithstanding anything contained in this Chapter,-

(a) in the interests of the general public there shall be a ceiling often in respect of stage carriage permits held by any person under this Chapter:

Provided that subject to the other provisions of this Chapter, nothing in this clause shall apply to the number of stage carriage permits which are in excess of ten already held by the applicant, till the normal date of the expiry of such excess permits;

(b) no person shall be entitled to apply for the grant of a new stage carriage permit or for the renewal of a stage carriage permit, if the number of stage carriage permits already held by such person is not less than ten;

(c) the Regional Transport Authority shall not grant a new stage carriage permit or renew a stage carriage permit if the number of permits already held by the applicant is not less than ten, or if, by the grant of such new permit or renewal of a permit, the number of stage carriage permits held by the applicant shall exceed ten:

Provided that nothing in this section shall apply to the Central Government or a State Government or to any corporation or company owned by the Central Government or one or more State Governments or by the Central Government and one or more State Governments:

Provided further that in computing the number of stage carriage permits for the purposes of this section,-

(i) the number of permits in respect of reserve vehicles kept by the holder of the permit to maintain the service; or

(ii) the number of temporary permits granted under section 62,

shall be excluded.

Explanation.- For the purposes of this section, "person" means the holder of a permit.

62-B. Surrender of stage carriage permits by persons holding in excess of ceiling limit.- (1) Where the number of stage carriage permits held by any person on the 18th June, 1971 is not less than ten, such person may, at any time within a period of one month from the said date, surrender one or more of such permits which are in excess of ten to the Regional Transport Authority which granted the permit and such Authority shall, notwithstanding anything contained in this Act accept such surrender and cancel he permit or permits so surrendered.

(2) The cancellation of the permit under sub-section (1) shall take effect from such date as may be specified by the Regional Transport Authority.

62-C. Surrender of permits.- Without prejudice to the provisions of section 62-B, a holder of a stage carriage, permit or other permit may, subject to such rules as may be made in this behalf, surrender the permit to the Regional Transport Authority which granted the permit.

62-D. Permission to transfer to be refused in cases where the applicant holds more than ten stage carriage permits.- (1) Where the holder of stage carriage permits in ??? of ten, ??? permission to transfer any stage carriage permit under sub-section (1) of section 59, the transport authority shall refuse such permission:

Provided that no such refusal shall be made unless the transport authority has given the applicant a ??? opportunity of being heard.

(2) All applications for, and proceedings (whether original or by way of appeal) relating to, transfer of any stage carriage permit under sub-section (1) of section 59, sought for by a holder of stage carriage permits in excess of ten and pending before any Court, transport authority or officer on the 18th June, 1971, and appeal or revision, if any, arising from such pending application or proceeding shall be disposed of under sub-section (1).

62-E. Benami transfers to be refused.- Where the holder of any stage carriage permit applies for permission to transfer any stage carriage permit under sub-section (1) of section 59, the transport authority shall refuse such permission if it appears to such authority, after making such enquiry as it deems fit, that the transfer sought for is a benami transfer:

Provided that no such refusal shall be made unless the transport authority has given the applicant a reasonable opportunity of being heard."

Section 9. Amendment of section 64-A, Central Act IV of 1939

9. Amendment of section 64-A, Central Act IV of 1939.- In section 64-A of the principal Act, after the expression "record of any case", the expression "(not being a case relating to the limiting the number of stage carriages or the opening of a new route under sub-section (3) of section 47)" shall be inserted.

Section 10. Insertion of new section 64-B in Central Act IV of 1939

10. Insertion of new section 64-B in Central Act IV of 1939.- After section 64-A of the principal Act, the following section shall be inserted, namely:-

"64-B. Revision by High Court.- The State Transport Appellate Tribunal shall be deemed to be a Court sub-ordinate to the High Court for the purpose of section 115 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (Central Act V of 1908), and its orders shall be liable to revision by the High Court under the provisions of the said section.".

Section 11. Act to apply to pending applications, etc.

11. Act to apply to pending applications, etc.- All applications for, and proceedings (whether original or by way of appeal) relating to-

(a) the grant of a stage carriage permit; or

(b) the renewal of a stage carriage permit; or

(c) the transfer of a stage carriage permit under section 59; or

(d) the limiting the number of stage carriages or the opening of a new route,

pending before any Court, transport authority or officer on the 18th June, 1971 and appeal or revision, if any, arising from such pending application or proceeding, shall be disposed of under the principal Act, as amended by this Act.

Section 12. [Repeal]

12. [Repeal].- ¹[]