HARISH KUMAR Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Heard Mr George Varghese, Mr Jaykar K S, Mr Satyendra Kumar Jha (party-in-person), Mr S Muhammed Haneeff, Mr K Shaj, Mr Peeyus A Kottam, Mr K J Manu Raj, Mr Thomas T Varghese, Ms Ambily Premkumar, and Mr T R Vishnu learned Counsel for the petitioners; Ms T S Krishna learned DSG and Mr Muhammed Rafiq learned Special Government Pleader (Taxes).

(2.) The petitioners in these writ petitions are the Central Government employees and employees of the Central Government Undertakings, including the Banks. The petitioners are aggrieved by the non-registration of their new vehicles under the Bharat Series (BH series) in the State of Kerala by the Transport Authorities. Therefore, the petitioners have filed these writ petitions seeking a writ of mandamus directing the respondent State Authorities to register their vehicles under the BH Series.

(3.) The Central Government has taken a host of citizen-centric steps to facilitate mobility, including the introduction of a new registration mark for new vehicles, i.e., "Bharat Series (BH-series)", to facilitate seamless transfer of vehicles. An IT-based solution for vehicle registration has been evolved to achieve the said purpose. However, to overcome the difficulty in the vehicles' re-registration process while moving to another State, the vehicle owner is required to undergo some cumbersome process. Station relocation occurs with both Government and private sector employees. Such movements require a transfer of registration of their vehicles from the parent State to another State under Sec. 47 of the Motor Vehicles Act 1988 (for short, 'MV Act'). Under Sec. 47 of the MV Act, a person is allowed to keep the vehicle for not more than 12 months in any State other than the State (parent State) where the vehicle is registered, but a new registration with the new State's registering authority has to be made within the stipulated time of 12 months.