D.R. Thadani vs Union Of India (Uoi) And Ors.
2002 Latest Caselaw 1383 Del

JUDGMENT

S.B. Sinha, C.J.

1. The petitioner is an Advocate of this Court. He has filed this writ petition claiming inter alia following reliefs:-

"Keeping in view the above facts and circumstances, it is necessary that this Hon'ble Court may issue such appropriate Writs, Orders and/or Directions as may be necessary and the Petitioner therefore prays that this Hon'ble Court be pleased to:-

A. Issue a Writ of Mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order and/or directions, directing the Public Servants in general and in this case, the Respondent No. 1 in particular to do their duty properly as Public servants, and to issue further orders and/or directions that the Public servants are duty bound, to accept all the communications addressed to them in their official capacity.

B. To issue an appropriate writ, orders and/or directions that in case the new system and/or, are to be manufactured by any specified companies, then, in that case, it will not be possible for 10 lac vehicle owners in Delhi to be provided with such security system number plates by specified dates i.e. 30.06.2000 in such an event the Respondents shall extend the said time to a reasonable date and further direct the Respondents that companies may be specified immediately and all the further particulars be notified, giving a reasonable time to the owners of vehicles to in regard to the allotment of the registration marks and numbers comply with the same.

C. The Registration Authorities (Respondent No. 3 & 4) be called upon to immediately act in accordance with law and take necessary action as per their public notice as published in the Hindustan Times dated 2.3.2001 and as contained in Annexure 'A' to this Petition.

This Hon'ble Court may pass any other appropriate orders and/or give directions to give more effective relief to the public at large."

2. At the outset, however, Mr. Thadani categorically stated that the prayer as regard having different types of registration number plates in terms of the colour in the cars has become infructuous.

The contention of the petitioner is that the matter relating to fixation of high security registration/number plates with security system is beyond the rule-making power of the Central Government.

According to the petitioner, the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (in short, 'the said Act') do not envisage that there should be a separate registration/number plate having regard to the security aspect of the matter. It was contended that safety of a car as contra-distinguished from safety of the owner thereof is not envisaged in the Act.

3. Drawing our attention to the provisions of Section 27 of the said Act, the petitioner would contend that the Central Government does not have any power whatsoever to issue the impugned order.

It was further submitted that not only the time granted therefor is short even in relation to new vehicles the said registration/number plates are not being fitted.

According to the petitioner, the amount required to be spent for the said purpose being about Rs. 40,000/- crores, the same must be held to be against the public policy.

4. Mr. Jayant Bhushan, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the respondent No. 1, on the other hand, would submit that it is not correct to contend that sufficient time had not been given for change of registration/number plates.

Learned counsel in this connection has drawn our attention to the following statement made in the counter affidavit:-

2.c&d. That in reply to para 2.c & d it is submitted that the rationale for changing over to a new colour scheme, namely, black letters on yellow background for transport vehicles and black letters on white background for other vehicles was to ensure better reflectivity and visibility of number plates, as also to conform to the international practice in this regard. A reasonable transition period of two years for the large number of existing vehicles owners in the country has been provided to change over to the high security registration plates, after it is made mandatory for new vehicles with effect from 30.6.2002. This transition period is provided since only approved vendors can provide the high security plates, and both the vendors and the owners of millions of existing vehicles would need time to effect the change in a smooth manner. These decision have been taken in the greater public interest for improved road safety as also security of vehicles.

13.a That in reply to para 13.a it is submitted that the correct information has been disseminated to the public vide the Press Release of this Ministry dated 28.12.2001, copy of the said advertisement is enclosed at Annexure-VIII. The date 31.8.2003 has not been stated by this Ministry at any time or in any forum.

14. That in reply to para 14 it is submitted that the Gazette notifications do not specify that the new number plates will be manufactured by any specified company(s). Only companies approved by the notified testing agencies will be permitted to supply these plates to the States. A perspective vendor can approach any of the notified testing agencies for such an approval.

17. That in reply to para 17 it is submitted that the already registered non-transport vehicles are required to change over to new colour scheme on or before 1.7.2002 on existing plates itself. Any new vehicle registered on 30.6.2002 onwards would have to use the high security registration plates. The already registered vehicles have been provided a lead time to two years thereafter to change over to high security registration plates.

19. That in reply to para 19 it is submitted that as on date, testing of samples of several vendors is underway at notified testing agencies and no product or vendor has yet been approved by them. Thus, question of changing over to High Security Plates by a motor vehicle owner on this date does not arise at all. However, what the petitioner is stating, it actually applies to change in colour scheme of existing number plates.

20. That is reply to para 20 it is submitted that the cost of repainting of existing plates may vary but the figure of Rs. 300-500 per pair of plates is certainly an over-estimate. In fact, this ministry had got the existing registration plates of its vehicles painted to the new colour scheme at a cost of Rs. 120/- per pair of registration plates. The rationale for first changing over to the colour scheme and then going for high security registration plates in case of already registered motor vehicles, has already been explained in preceding paragraphs. In view of the improve road safety and improved security that this scheme can bring to the country, the money spent on this account cannot be deemed as a national loss but on the other hand, can be considered as a small contribution towards safety and security on the road.

21, 22 & 23. In reply to paras 21, 22 and 23 it is submitted that sufficient and reasonable transition period of two years commencing from 30.6.2002 has been allowed for change over to high security registration plates for existing motor vehicles. Relevant Gazette Notifications were issued after giving reasonable opportunity to the public to file their objection/suggestions. The petitioner does not appear to have availed of apportunity at that time."

It was pointed out that in terms of the impugned notification whereby and whereunder the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 (in short, 'the 1989 Rules') had been amended and whereas only new vehicles are required to be fitted with high security registration/number plates up to 30.06.2002 for old vehicles 2 years' time had been granted.

Drawing our attention to Sub-section (6) of Section 41; Clause (d) of Section 64 of the said Act and Rule 54 of the 1989 Rules, the learned counsel would contend that the Central Government has the requisite legislative power in relation thereto. The learned counsel would further contend that by reason of the impugned notification, original Rule 50 has merely been amended and, thus, no fault therewith can be found, as having regard to the security aspect, a device is required to be made so that no forgery, manipulation and/or tampering of registration/number plates is possible, which would help the Authorities in detection of many crimes.

5. Before adverting to the question(s) involved in this writ petition, we may notice some of the relevant provisions of the said Act and the Rules.

Section 41(6) of the said Act reads thus:-

"41. Registration, how to be made.-

) The registering authority shall assign to the vehicle, for display thereon, a distinguishing mark (in this Act referred to as the registration mark) consisting of one of the groups of such of those letters and followed by such letters and figures as are allotted to the State by the Central Government from time to time by the notification in the Official Gazette, and displayed and shown on the motor vehicle in such form and in such manner as may be prescribed by the Central Government.

Clause (d) of Section 64 of the said Act reads as under:-

"64. Power of Central Government to make rules.-

... ... ...

(d) the manner in which and the form in which the registration mark, the letters and figures and other particulars referred to in Sub-section (6) of Section 41 shall be displayed and shown;"

Rule 50 of the 1989 Rules, as it stood earlier reads as under:-

["50. FROM AND MANNER OF DISPLAY OF REGISTRATION MARKS ON THE MOtor VEHICLES.--The registration mark referred to in Sub-section (6) of Section 41 shall be displayed both in the front and at the rear on all motor vehicles clearly and legibly on a plain surface of a plate or part of the vehicle not inclined to vertical by more than thirty degrees, at the front facing direct to the front and at the rearfacing direct to the rear.

Provided that:

(a) the registration mark exhibited at the rear of a transport vehicle shall be affixed to the vehicle on the right hand side at a distance not exceeding one metre from the ground as may be reasonably possible having regard to the type of the body of the vehicle;

(b) the registration mark shall also be painted on the right and left side on the body of the vehicle in the case of a transport vehicle;

(c) the registration mark shall also be painted and exhibited on the partition provided, between the driver and the passengers, facing the passenger's seats or, where there is no such partition, on the front interior of the vehicle near the roof to the left side of the driver's seat facing the passengers' seats in the case of a stage carriage or a contract carriage and in the case of a motor cab or a maxi cab it shall be sufficient if the registration mark is painted on the dash-board.

(d) the registration mark shall be exhibited on a plain plate or surface on the left hand side and on the rear in the case of a trailer or the last trailer, apart from the registration mark of the drawing motor vehicle to which such trailer or trailers are attached.

(3) The registration mark shall be exhibited in two lines, the State code and registering authority code forming the first line and the rest forming the second line, one below the other.

Provided that the registration mark in the front may be exhibited in one line:

Provided further that in models of vehicles having no sufficient provision at the rear to exhibit the registration mark in two lines, it shall be sufficient if in such vehicles registration mark is exhibited in a single line:

Provided further that registration mark on a light motor vehicle may be in the centre with illumination.

(4) Every motor vehicle, except motor cab and motor car, manufactured on and from the date of commencement of the Central Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Rules, 1993, shall be provided with sufficient space in the rear to display of registration mark in two lines."

6. Our attention in this connection, has been drawn to amended Rule 50, which is as under:-

"(8) in Rule 50,-

(a) for Sub-rule (1), the following sub-rule shall be substituted, namely:-

"(I) On or after commencement of this rule, the registration mark referred to in Sub-section (6) of Section 41 shall be displayed both at the front and at the rear of all motor vehicles clearly and legibly in the form of security license plate of the following specifications, namely:-

(i) the plate shall be a solid unit made of 1.0 mm aluminium conforming to DIN 1745/DIN 1783 or ISO 7591. Border edges and corners of the plate shall be rounded to avoid injuries to the extent of approx. 10mm and the plates must have an embossed border. The plate shall be suitable for hot stamping and reflective sheet has to be guaranteed for imperishable nature for minimum five years. The fast coloring of legend and border to be done by hot stamping.

(ii) The plate should bear the letter "IND" in blue colour on the extreme left centre of the plate. The letter should be one fourth of the size of letters mentioned in Rule 51 and should be buried into the foil or applied by hot stamping and should be integral part of the plate;

(iii) Each plate shall be protected against counterfeiting by applying chromium-based hologram, applied by hot stamping. Stickers and adhesive labels are not permitted. The plate shall bear a permanent consecutive identification number of minimum seven digits, to be laser branded into the reflective sheeting and hot stamping film shall bear a verification inscription;

(iv) Apart from the registration marks on the front and rear, the third registration mark in the form of self destructive type, chromium based hologram sticker shall be affixed on the left-hand top side of the windshield of the vehicle. The registration details such as registration number, registering authority, etc., shall be printed on the sticker. The third registration mark shall be issued by the registering authorities/approved dealers of the license plates manufacturer marks, and the regular registration marks, and thereafter if such sticker is destroyed it shall be issued by the license plate manufacturer or his dealer;

(v) The plate shall be fastened with non-removable/non-reusable snap lock fitting system on rear of the vehicle at the premises of the registering authority;

The license plates with all the above specifications and the specified registrations for a vehicle shall be issued by the registering authority or approved the license plats manufactures or their dealers. The Central Road Research Institute, New Delhi or any of the agency authorized by the Central Government shall approve the license plates manufacturers to the above specification;

(vi) the size of the plate for different categories of vehicles shall be as follows:-

For two and three wheelers - 200 x 100 mm

For Light Motor Vehicles/Passenger cars - 340 x 200 mm/500 x 120 mm

For medium commercial vehicles, heavy commercial vehicles and Trailer/combination

- 340 x 200 mm:"

Provided that this sub-rule shall apply to already registered vehicles two years from the date of commencement.

....."

7. By reason of Sub-section (6) of Section (6) of Section 41 of the said Act, the registering authority is required to assign a distinguishing mark for display thereon in such form and in such manner as may be prescribed by the Central Government. By reason of the said provision, therefore, laying down of different forms for different purposes as may be prescribed is envisaged. Not only by reason of Sub-section (6) of Section 41 of the said Act but also by reason of Section 64 of the said Act, the Central Government has, in our considered opinion, the requisite jurisdiction to prescribe such type of registration/number plates, which in its opinion would sub-serve the purport and object thereof.

8. The legislative policy of the State can be interfered by the High Court in exercise of its jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, only when it is found to be contravening the Constitutional provisions, Legislative scheme under the delegated legislation cannot be interfered on the ground of alleged mala fide as has been urged by the petitioner. A delegated legislation may be struck down inter alia when the same is found to be contravening to the provisions of the Constitution of India or beyond the rule-making power contained in the main Act. Once it is held that the rule comes within the purview of rule-making power, the Court will not investigate the validity thereof any further unless it is shown that the same is ultra vires the Constitution of India.

9. The petitioner herein has not questioned the vires of Sub-section (6) of Section 41 of the said Act nor did or cold question the vires of Section 64 thereof.

It is now well known that the provisions for prescribing rules are made in the Parliamentary or Legislative Act for the reason that the Parliament at the time of enactment of a statute would not be in a position to comprehend all the requirements, which may be necessary from time to time to implement the object and purport thereof.

The concept of having different types of registration/number plates may change with the passage of time.

The Executive while implementing the provisions of the said Act may face serious difficulties in doing so under the existing rules with the passage of time and as such it is entitled to amend the 1989 Rules as and when necessary.

10. It is preposterous to suggest as has been sought to be done by the petitioner that the safety of car is not contemplated under the said Act. It is notorious fact of which judicial notice can be taken that not only theft of car has increased manifold but also several other offences are committed by using forged number plates and particularly having regard to the recent spurt of terrorism, extra security as regard identification of cars has become all the more necessary. The contention of the petitioner to the effect that for implementation of a valid Act or a Rule, the State has to make extra expenditure is, in our opinion, wholly irrelevant. The hardship of an individual or a group of individuals, it is trite, by itself cannot be a ground to strike down an otherwise validly enacted statute or validly made rule.

11. The respondents in their counter affidavit inter alia stated:-

"19. That in reply to para 19 it is submitted that as on date, testing of samples of several vendors is underway at notified testing agencies and no product or vendor has yet been approved by them. Thus, question of changing over to High Security Plates by a motor vehicle owner on this date does not arise at all. However, what the petitioner is stating, it actually applies to change in colour scheme of existing number plates."

The purport and object of the amendment in the Rules is that nobody would be able to change the registration/number plates or the same cannot be tampered with and new high security registration/number plates fixed in the cars cannot be removed from the vehicles.

The impugned Rules seek to take into account all precautions, which the Executive found it necessary for fulfilling the object of the said Act, and, thus, no exception thereto can be taken.

It is further not correct to contend that by reason of the said amended Rule, not much time has been granted to the owners of the cars to change registration/number plates. The registration/number plates in terms of the said notification can be fixed in the new vehicles up to 30.06.2002 whereas two years' further time had been granted for replacement of the registration/number plates for old vehicles.

12. In that view of the matter, we are of the opinion that no case has been made out for issuance of a Writ of Mandamus as has prayed for, particularly as by reason of the present writ petition no public purpose will be sub-served.

This writ petition is accordingly dismissed without being any orders as to costs.