Nainital, Mar 22 (PTI) The Uttarakhand High Court on Friday put a stay on the issuance of permits to private buses to ply on 13 routes meant for state roadways buses and sought a reply from the state government on the matter.

The stay order was issued by a division bench comprising Chief Justice Ritu Bahri and Justice Rakesh Thapliyal on a petition filed by Uttarakhand Roadways Employees Union general secretary Ashok Choudhary.

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Choudhary challenged the government order to issue permits to private vehicles to ply on the routes meant only for state roadways buses.

The petitioner said the state government's decision was "wrong" as it would "adversely affect" the income of Uttarakhand Transport Corporation.

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On behalf of the government it was said that the petition was not maintainable since the petitioners did not lodge any objection with the government when the decision was being made.

Now that the decision has been taken, it should be challenged before the appellate authority, the government's counsel said.

However, the petitioner said an objection had been lodged but it was ignored.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)