PATNA HIGH COURT ISSUES JUDGEMENT ON ABHIJIT KUMAR V/S THE STATE OF BIHAR AND OTHER

PATNA, India, Aug. 7 -- Patna High Court issued the following judgment on July 16:

Heard the learned counsel for the parties.

The present writ petition has been filed for the following relief(s):-

"1. That this is an application praying for issuance of a writ in the nature of a writ of certiorari or any other appropriate writ / order / direction upon the respondent statutory authorities to produce, before this Hon'ble Court, the circular / letter no. 7640, dated 01.12.2021, issued by the Secretary, Transport Department, Bihar, by which District Transport Officers have been directed to first ascertain as to whether the Government employees, applying for Bharat (BH) series number, could be transferred outside the State of Bihar or not, and thereafter to set aside / quash the same by holding it to be illegal, arbitrary and unconstitutional inasmuch as the same is in derogation to the relevant Rules promulgated by the Government of India under a Central Act The Petitioner also prays for issuance of a writ in the nature of a writ of mandamus or any other appropriate writ / order / direction upon the respondent statutory authorities to grant registration to the Petitioner's newly purchased vehicle (Mahindra XUV700) under the BH-Series, in consonance with the mandate of the Central Motor Vehicles (Twentieth Amendment) Rules, 2021.

The Petitioner further prays for issuance of any other appropriate writ / direction / order in the facts of the case to ensure timely and effective consequential relief to the Petitioner."

3. The following relief(s) has been added by I.A. No. 01 of 2024.

"1. That the Petitioner has preferred the above mentioned writ application for issuance of a writ in the nature of a writ of a mandamus or any other appropriate writ / order / direction for quashing the order bearing memo no. 8712, dated 18.09.2024, issued by Respondent No. 3 (i.e. DTO, Patna), whereby the Petitioner's application for grant of Bharat Series (hereinafter referred to as "BH-Series") registration for his vehicle (Mahindra XUV700 AX7 AT) was rejected in a perfunctory and mechanical manner, based on completely non-est grounds. It is further prayed for issuance of a consequential writ in the nature of a writ of mandamus or any other appropriate writ or direction commanding the respondents to restore the Petitioner's application and grant allowance for the same."

4. It is the case of the petitioner that he is working as a Judicial Officer of the Bihar Superior Judicial Service in the rank of District Judge (Entry Level) and he is currently posted as the 15th Additional District & Sessions Judge-cum-Special Judge, NIA & ATS, Bihar, Patna. That the petitioner has purchased a new vehicle and wanted to get the Bharat Series (BH-Series) number for his vehicle and to that effect an application was made. That the petitioner along with the application has submitted the necessary documents with the requisite fees however, instead of granting the BH-Series to the petitioner, the petitioner has received a letter from the office of the District Transport Officer, Patna. The DTO, Patna wanted to ascertain as to whether the government employees like the petitioner who are applying for BH-Series will be transferred outside the State of Bihar or not. That in response to the said letter, the petitioner has replied that the judicial officers of Bihar are likely to be transferred outside the State of Bihar. Thereafter, the application of the petitioner was rejected vide Letter No. 8712 dated 18.09.2024.

5. Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner has vehemently argued that the Rule 47 of the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989 referred as Central Motor Vehicles (28th Amendment Rule, 2021) has been amended, whereby any person can apply under the BH-Series. That as per the said rule, the petitioner was obligated to furnish his official Identity Card and except the same, there was no other legal impediment for issuing the BH-Series to the vehicle purchased by the petitioner. Learned counsel has further stated that the petitioner who is working in the level of District Judge is likely to be deputed to other States and, therefore, the authorities cannot refuse to grant the BH-Series to the petitioner. That once the rules have been made by the Central Government, the authorities by issuing Office Memos/ rules contrary to the original amendment cannot deny the BH-Series Registration on one pretext or the other. Learned counsel has therefore, prayed this Hon'ble Court to allow the present writ petition set aside the order dated 18.09.2024 in Letter No. 8712 and consequentially direct the authorities to issue the BH-Series vehicle number to the petitioner on his application.

6. Per contra, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the respondent-State has vehemently opposed the very maintainability of the present writ petition. Learned counsel has stated that the State of Bihar has implemented the applicability of BH-Series vehicles vide notification dated 25.11.2021. That as per the notification dated 25.11.2021, the State Government has issued guidelines to all the District Transport Officers vide Letter No. 7640 dated 01.12.2021 (Annexure-B). That as per the direction issued by the State Government, the DTOs are bound to ensure that the conditions are met before registration of the vehicle under BH Series. That as per Para No. 2 of the letter dated 01.12.2021, it has been stated as under;

The rest of the document can be viewed at https://patnahighcourt.gov.in/viewjudgment/MTUjMTA1NzMjMjAyNCMxI04=-mJ0s9CfwwPE=

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