Karnataka Contract Carriages (Acquisition) Act, 1976

The petitioners, a group of contract carriage operators, were denied fresh permits under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 because the Karnataka Contract Carriages (Acquisition) Act, 1976 (ss. 14 and 20) barred any new applications and gave a monopoly to the State Transport Undertaking. They challenged the refusals before t…

The Karnataka Government promulgated the Contract Carriages (Acquisition) Ordinance, 1976 which provided that certain employees of contract carriage operators would be automatically absorbed into the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) at a ratio of 7.9 per vehicle. The Ordinance was later repealed and r…

D.P. Sharma, owner of a public service vehicle, applied for a special permit under section 63(6) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939. The Regional Transport Authority refused, invoking the Karnataka Contract Carriages (Acquisition) Act, 1976, which it said barred such permits. A single judge of the Karnataka High Court all…

The Supreme Court examined the constitutional validity of the Karnataka Motor Vehicles Taxation and Certain Other Law (Amendment) Act, 2003, which repealed the Karnataka Contract Carriages (Acquisition) Act, 1976, and whether the State Transport Authority (STA) could delegate the power to grant contract carriage, speci…