SUNNY SCARIA Vs. JOINT R T O PALAI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Petitioners who are the owners of Tourer Jeeps with registration as omni bus want to operate it as goods carriage. They filed applications for altering the class of vehicle to goods vehicle. Ext. P6 in O.P. 14083/92 and Ext. P7 in all other Original Petitions arc the proceedings of the respondent rejecting the applications. The challenge in all these original petitions is against the rejection of the applications.

(2.) Contention of the petitioners is that the Motor Vehicles Act or Rules do not contain any prohibition with regard to the conversion of passenger vehicle into goods vehicle and so Ext. P6 and P-7 cannot be sustained.

(3.) The short question that arises for consideration is whether the registered owners/application for conversion of the class of the vehicle should have been allowed, in the normal course by the respondent. In otherwords, whether the registered owner of the vehicle is the sole arbiter to decide the conversion of the class of his vehicle is the moot point that has to be considered. The respondent rejected the applications for alteration of the class of the vehicle from Omni bus to goods vehicle on the ground that the prototype of the vehicle was not tested for goods carrier. Contention of the respondent is that a vehicle which has been registered as an omni bus cannot be converted into a goods vehicle so long as the prototype of the vehicle remains the same and that the conversion can be granted only when the prototype of the vehicle was tested for being it used as a goods vehicle.