KARNATAKA STATE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT CORPN. LTD. ETC. ETC. vs KARNATAKA STATE TRANSPORT APPELLATE TRIBUNAL & ORS. ETC.ETC

The Supreme Court interpreted the proviso to Section 63(7) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939, holding that it establishes a rule of preference rather than exclusion for granting tourist vehicle permits. The Court ruled that eligible applicants' claims must be evaluated on their merits, applying the preference rule only when claims are approximately equal. The Court found that the fourth sub-clause of the proviso did not violate Article 14 of the Constitution, thus allowing the appeals and setting aside the previous decisions that favored preferred categories without merit consideration.