The Supreme Court has decided to resume its hearing on a key legal issue: whether a person with a driving licence for a light motor vehicle is permitted to drive a transport vehicle with an unladen weight not exceeding 7,500 kg.
This decision comes from a five-judge Constitution bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud.
The move follows a statement from Attorney General R Venkataramani, who, representing the Centre, informed the Court that while consultations on amending the Motor Vehicles (MV) Act 1988 are "nearly complete," the proposed amendments have not yet been presented to Parliament.
The Law Officer indicated that the amended Bill could be introduced in the Winter session of Parliament and proposed that the bench either postpone the hearing until the Bill is passed or continue with the proceedings.
The bench, which includes Justices Hrishikesh Roy, PS Narasimha, Pankaj Mithal, and Manoj Misra, has decided to continue with the hearing on the legal issue without waiting for Parliament to approve amendments to the Motor Vehicles Act (MV Act).
The legal question at hand has sparked various disputes, particularly concerning insurance claims for accidents involving transport vehicles driven by individuals with light motor vehicle (LMV) licences.
Previously, on April 16, the bench had postponed the hearing after the Attorney General presented a note indicating that the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways had completed consultations on amending the MV Act. The proposed amendments were expected to be submitted to the newly-constituted Lok Sabha following the general elections.
"By its communication dated April 15, 2024, the Ministry has placed on record the details of the proposed amendment to the statute.
"In view of the impending General Elections, the Attorney General for India requests that these proceedings may be deferred until the last week of July 2024 so as to enable the Union government to bring forth a proposal for the amendment of the Motor Vehicles Act 1988 before the newly constituted Parliament following the General Elections," the bench had said.
The bench had indicated that the potential impact of the proposed amendments on the issue under reference will be assessed during the course of the hearing.
Before deferring the hearing, the Supreme Court had queried the Centre on whether a change in the law was necessary regarding the legal entitlement of a person with a light motor vehicle (LMV) licence to drive a transport vehicle of a specific weight. The Court had also requested the Attorney General's assistance in addressing this legal question.
Observing that these are policy issues impacting "the livelihood of lakhs of people", the court had said the government needs to take a "fresh look" at the matter, which needs to be taken up at the policy level.
"Whether a person holding a driving licence in respect of a light motor vehicle (LMV) could, on the strength of that licence, be entitled to drive a transport vehicle of light motor vehicle class having unladen weight not exceeding 7,500 kg," reads the legal question being dealt with by the court.
The bench noted that it would be important to determine the position of the Union Ministry after being informed that the Centre had accepted the Supreme Court's 2017 ruling in Mukund Dewangan versus Oriental Insurance Company Limited. In that case, a three-judge bench had ruled that transport vehicles with a gross weight not exceeding 7,500 kg should not be excluded from the definition of a light motor vehicle (LMV). Consequently, the rules were amended to align with this judgment.
"There may be lakhs of drivers across the country who are working on the basis of the Dewangan judgment. This is not a constitutional issue. It is purely a statutory issue," the bench had said.
"This is not just the question of law, but also the social impact of the law.... Road safety has to be balanced with the social purpose of the law and you have to see if this causes serious hardships. We cannot decide issues of social policy in a Constitution bench," it had said.
Last year, the Constitution bench began hearing 76 petitions addressing the legal question surrounding driving licences for different vehicle categories. The lead petition was filed by Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company Limited.
The Motor Vehicles Act establishes distinct licensing regimes for various vehicle categories. The matter was referred to the larger bench on March 8, 2022, by a three-judge bench led by Justice UU Lalit (now retired). It was noted that some provisions of the law had not been considered in the Mukund Dewangan judgment, and thus "the controversy in question needs to be revisited."
Website designed, developed and maintained by webexy