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Number plates must for VVIP vehicles including President, says Delhi high court
A bench of acting chief justice Gita Mittal and justice C Hari Shankar said every vehicle has to comply with the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 and display the number plates
Snubbing the VVIP culture, the Delhi high court on Wednesday said all vehicles plying on the streets, including those of top dignitaries such as the president, vice president, governors and lieutenant governors should be registered and display number plates.
A bench of acting chief justice Gita Mittal and justice C Hari Shankar said every vehicle has to comply with the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 and display the number plates. It directed the Centre and the Delhi government to check that all the vehicles are registered and have licence plates.
The court’s order came in response to a plea by Nyaya Bhoomi, a non-government organisation, through its secretary Rakesh Agarwal, which alleged that the display of the national emblem on official cars, instead of the number plates, makes them conspicuous and expose dignitaries to potential threats.
The plea also contended that a person meeting with an accident involving a car without a registration number cannot bring a claim against it; due to the absence of any identification mark, the vehicle’s ownership cannot be known and citizens get the message that if a dignitary could disobey the law and get away with it, so could they.
“There can be no manner of doubt that every vehicle has to comport to the Motor Vehicle Act and has to be registered with a re- gistering authority and must display the registration number,” the court said on Wednesday.
Appearing for the ministry of road, transport and highways, central government standing counsel Rajesh Gogna informed the court that the offices of the president, vice president, governors and lieutenant governors have been told to ensure that vehicles used by them are registered according to the rules.
The report stated that replies have been received from the vice president’s secretariat that “all vehicles of this Secretariat display their registration number including vehicles being used by the Vice President of India and his spouse”. With respect to the 14 vehicles, he said the process of registration of 14 vehicles of the ministry of external affairs (MEA) -- used by foreign dignitaries—has been initiated.
Standing counsel for the Delhi government Gautam Narayan also stated that there was no exemption for vehicles of top dignitaries and all vehicles had been registered.
