V. BAVA Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The issue in this Writ Appeal pertains to the entry of alteration in the Certificate of Registration of a vehicle or in other words the registration of an altered vehicle. The Additional Registering Authority and the Assistant Motor Vehicles Inspector are termed as 'the registering authority' and 'the vehicle inspector' hereafter for brevity.

(2.) The appellant is the registered owner of a goods carriage vehicle (Mahindra Load King Super) bearing registration number KL-10T 807 covered by Ext.P1 certificate of registration. The appellant applied for sanction to alter the vehicle by retro fitment of tipper mechanism in order to use the goods vehicle as a tipper lorry. The registering authority rejected the application by Ext.P2 order stating that the alteration would be at variance with the particulars specified by the manufacturer. The said order was set aside in W.P.(C) No.13671/2002 filed by the appellant by Ext.P3 judgment directing reconsideration of the issue. The registering authority thereafter accorded sanction by Ext.P4 order further directing the vehicle to be produced after alteration before the Vehicle Inspector. The appellant contends that he had spent Rs. 1,60,000/- for alteration of the vehicle evidenced by Ext.P5 receipt issued by the body builder and engineer.

(3.) The registering authority however refused to register the altered vehicle by Ext.P6 order on the ground that its basic features are changed even affecting its stability prejudicially. It was stated therein that the chassis of the vehicle is designed to bear the load distributed equally unlike in a tipper lorry designed to take load at a single point. The revised order of the registering authority was also set aside in W.P.(C) No.25184/2012 by Ext.P7 judgment directing reconsideration of the issue. The vehicle was thereafter inspected by the vehicle inspector who reported that the alteration of the vehicle cannot be approved. The registering authority on the basis of the report reiterated its stand in not entering the alteration of the vehicle in its certificate of registration by Ext.P8 order. The said order was not interfered with in W.P.(C) No.7660/2013 by Ext.P9 judgment wherein the appellant was relegated to an appeal before the Deputy Transport Commissioner.