In a big relief to owners looking to transfer their vehicle registrations to Bharat (BH) number series, particularly in Maharashtra, the Bombay High Court has struck down a circular issued by the state’s transport commissioner in February 2024, imposing certain conditions while deciding on applications for registration of vehicles under the BH series.
The circular was deemed ridiculous and archaic by residents since as per its diktat, any government servant who wishes to seek BH series registration must, in addition to the official identity card, also furnish a certificate showing he has offices in other states, his stay at such states and his/her payment slips during the service tenure in such states.
Bombay High Court quashes ‘illegal’ circular
A judgement issued by the division bench of Justices Girish Kulkarni and Firdosh Pooniwalla stated that the circular was issued without any authority and hence was flawed and illegal. The court was hearing a petition filed by Mahendra Patil, a senior civil judge in the Maharashtra State Judicial Services, challenging the circular and denial of his application seeking registration of his vehicle under the BH series.
According to Patil, he submitted his official identity card, as per the requirements, while applying for a BH Series vehicle registration. However, he was informed that his application was rejected as he had not complied with certain other conditions imposed under a circular issued by the transport commissioner in February 2024.
In his plea, Patil claimed that he had complied with conditions mandated in the Central Motor Vehicles (Twentieth Amendment) Rules of 2021 for registration of vehicles under the BH series. The BH series of number plates were introduced by the government of India in 2021 to facilitate convenient transfer of vehicles in different states and Union Territories.
Further, Patil in his plea said the transport commissioner does not have any authority to issue such a circular, which is contrary to the provisions of rules framed by the Central government. He sought the transport commissioner’s circular be quashed and an order be passed to grant his vehicle registration under the BH series.
In its verdict, the two-judge divisional bench of Bombay High Court noted that the circular issued by the transport commissioner was “clearly in excess of the jurisdiction and without any authority in law.” It further stated that the circular issued on 21 February 2024 was “flawed and illegal” and declared it to be “illegal, arbitrary, and unconstitutional” and hence it was quashed.
Transport commissioner’s rebuttal
The high court ruling against the circular generated a prompt response from the transport commissioner’s office which opposed the plea, saying the circular was merely in the nature of guidelines issued to ensure the object of the Central Rules are achieved. If vehicles are given BH series registration without compliance of the circular then there would be loss of revenue, the transport commissioner’s office further claimed.
In the statement, the commissioner said even those government employees who are not normally transferred to other states are seeking benefits of the BH series. The transport department further claimed there are several monetary benefits for vehicles with BH series registration and, hence, the number of applications seeking registration under it was increasing exponentially.
(With inputs from PTI)