Madras High Court upholds Tamil Nadu governments new mini bus scheme

The Madras High Court has upheld the validity of a New Comprehensive Mini Bus Scheme framed on August 24, 2025 for granting permits to personal minibus operators to be able to cowl 25,708 km throughout the State and guarantee final mile connectivity by reaching distant hamlets that hadn’t heard the sound of a bus engine or the odor of diesel even after 78 years of Independence.

Justice N. Mala dismissed a batch of circumstances difficult the G.O. She mentioned, “The scheme is framed to make sure that villagers from distant areas would attain the closest city or metropolis by availing the minibus providers as an alternative of strolling miles to succeed in the closest bus stand/cease. The scheme, being indisputably in furtherance of public comfort, warrants judicial affirmation.”

Convinced with the arguments of Advocate General P.S. Raman, the choose went on to state: “The Constitution recognises the best to free motion underneath Article 19(1)(d). Recognizing the constitutional proper, the respondents (authorities authorities) have formulated a scheme to make sure that the agricultural public have unrestricted motion from the distant villages to the cities and cities.”

The choose additionally mentioned, it was a matter of widespread data that the street infrastructure within the villages was in a deplorable circumstances making it troublesome for normal buses to function in such areas. Therefore, the federal government, in its knowledge, had resolved that mini buses can be extra appropriate. “It is properly settled legislation {that a} coverage choice of the federal government can’t be reviewed by this courtroom underneath the writ jurisdiction,” she added.

Further, being attentive to the chequered historical past of introduction of personal minibuses within the State that had led to a spate of litigations prior to now by the stage carriage operators, the choose mentioned: ‘The historical past of the litigation demonstrates constant opposition to the inclusion of the mini buses within the State transport system. Such resistance can’t be permitted to proceed any additional.”

The choose recorded the submission of the A-G that the current scheme was meant at protecting 90,000 villages and hamlets within the State and would profit roughly one crore folks in accessing bus transport. She additionally took word that the federal government had initially launched the brand new scheme in January this yr however after discovering sure lacunae, it got here up with a revised scheme in April 2025.