The Kerala High Court ruled on Wednesday that a car dealer can, in theory, deliver a new motor vehicle to the owner on the basis of a temporary certificate of registration issued under Section 43 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, after assigning a temporary registration mark under Rule 53C of the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989.

"The petitioner has got a right to participate in the bid for getting the number of her choice as per Rule 95 of the Rules, 1989. The number of her choice is available only after three months. In other words, those who purchased a vehicle and obtained a permanent registration number can ply their vehicle immediately and those who purchased the vehicle and want a fancy number as per Rule 95 of the Rules, 1989 have to wait indefinitely. This in my opinion, is a prima facie discrimination. The petitioner is entitled to participate in the bid as per Rule 95, but he cannot ply the vehicle even after paying the entire consideration, tax and obtaining insurance policy. I think the petitioner made out a prima facie case."

The Court read Section 43 of the Motor Vehicles Act 1988 (Act, 1988), which allows for temporary registration and the use of a registration mark prescribed by Rule 53C of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989.

"In other words, the term 'registration' employed in the two provisos quoted above clearly takes within its ambit a temporary certificate of registration as well. Moreover, as per Rules 47 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 an application for registration, i.e. permanent registration of a motor vehicle shall be in Form 20 and shall be accompanied by temporary registration, if any. Therefore, a combined reading of the provisions referred above prima facie shows that the dealer can deliver a new motor vehicle to the owner on the strength of a temporary certificate of registration issued under Section 43 of the Act 1988, after assigning a temporary registration mark under Rule 53C of the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989", it observed.

As a result, the Court directed the RTO to issue appropriate instructions to the car dealer so that the vehicle could be delivered to the petitioner on the basis of the temporary permit of registration certificate, and she could also ply the vehicle on temporary permit.

Case Title: Praicy Joseph v. Regional Transport Officer (Registration Authority), Ernakulam & Anr.

Citation: WP(C) NO. 37193 OF 2022

Link: https://hckinfo.kerala.gov.in/digicourt/Casedetailssearch/fileview?token=MjE1NzAwMzcxOTMyMDIyXzEucGRm&lookups=b3JkZXJzL2ludGVyaW1vcmRlci8yMDIy