The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Court upholds RTC move to hire buses

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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Court upholds RTC move to hire buses

Legal Correspondent

HYDERABAD: Justice C.V. Nagarjuna Reddy of the High Court on Friday dismissed the writ petition challenging the action of the APSRTC authorities to hire private buses.

The judge was dismissing the writ petition filed by the National Mazdoor Union (NMU) which heads one of the major trade unions of the APSRTC.

The petitioner had complained that on an earlier occasion the authorities promised that the corporation will not take buses on hire but make provision for purchasing them for the corporation. He expressed apprehension about the safety and contended that this was first step towards closure and privatisation of the APSRTC.

The corporation and Government argued that there is demand from the public to run more buses in more routes.

The court was told that more buses were needed to cater to needs of travelling public and to protect the committed passengers.

Justice Nagarjuna Reddy felt that the policy decision to hire buses in the light of non-availability of funds to purchase large number of new buses can not be termed as unconstitutional.

Official reaction

Special Correspondent adds: When contacted, APSRTC officials said they had already issued allotment letters for 1,600 new, private buses to successful bidders on December 27, 2007, with the stipulation that it was subject to the judgment of the Court.

A senior official said that with the writ being dismissed, there was no reason why the successful bidders would hesitate anymore.

The allotment letters had given the bidders 60 days’ time to produce ordinary or express buses, as the case may be, according to the corporation’s specifications.

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