Ex-servicemen moves HC over cancellation of bus permits

NEW DELHI: Three ex-servicemen, who were operating their buses under Stage Carriage permits, on Friday approached the Delhi high court seeking a direction to the State Transport Authority(STA) not to withhold the renewal of the permits of their buses.
Filing an application before a division bench headed by Justice A K Sikri, the ex-servicemen alleged that the STA has treated their buses under the category of Bluelines and stopped renewing their permits after December 2010.
The bench, however, declined to grant any relief and asked the petitioner to file a separate writ petition as the court has reserved the verdict on the Blueline phase-out matter.
According to the petitioners, the STA has been granting permits under a different scheme to provide rehabilitation, employment and resettlement to retired defence personnel.
Claiming that the permits were granted to them under a scheme different from the scheme of Blueline, the petitioners said "non-renewal of permits of their buses is absolutely illegal arbitrary and unconstitutional and the court should clarify that the PIL pertaining to phase-out of Blueline buses has no bearings on their permits.
The city government stopped renewing the permits of Blueline buses and plied low-floor AC/Non AC buses in their place but allowed some Blueline buses to ply as their permits expire after a few months.
Taking suo motu cognisance over repeated accidents by Blueline drivers on city roads, the high court had in 2007 directed the NCT government to phase out such buses.