The rule, the court said, will apply to the vehicles of the President, the Vice-President, governors and Lieutenant Governors of states and Union territories
NEW DELHI:
Every vehicle, including that of top constitutional authorities, should display the registration number, the Delhi High Court said. The rule, the court said, will apply to the vehicles of the President, the Vice-President, governors and Lieutenant Governors of states and Union territories.
The order by a bench of acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar came while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by an NGO, which has sought to enforce display of registration numbers on cars of VVIPs.
The Road Transport and Highways Ministry, in its affidavit filed before the bench in March, had agreed to display of registration numbers on VVIPs’ cars and said that it has asked the authorities concerned to get these vehicles registered.
The NGO had said that the practice of replacing the registration numbers with the national emblem — three lion heads adapted from the Lion Capital carved on an Ashokan pillar at Sarnath — is both arbitrary and symptomatic of the desire to rule rather than to serve.
The plea said the practice makes the VVIP cars vulnerable and thus the dignitaries become easy targets for terrorists and anyone with malicious intent.
If a person met with an accident involving such vehicles, he cannot bring any claim against the erring persons due to absence of any identification mark, it added.
