Owners of vehicles registered outside the State, who were queuing up at the RTO to get their seized documents after a High Court ruling in their favour, are returning disappointed.
Recently, the HC quashed the Karnataka Motor Vehicles Taxation (Amendment) Act. It allowed motorists to use their vehicles in the State for up to 12 months without paying road tax afresh. This came as a relief to thousands of motorists whose vehicle documents were seized by the RTO.
But people who visited RTO offices in the past week to recover their documents have had to return chastened and empty-handed.
“I was caught in September 2015 barely a week after I came to the city. Since then I have made three trips to the RTO,” said Mahesh (name change), whose documents were seized by the Jayanagar RTO. “Initially, officials told me that the HC judgment did not mean that I could get my documents back. This week, I was told that the matter is sub-judice, as they are going to appeal against the decision,” he added. A few people managed to get their documents released in the days immediately after the judgment. Later, RTO officials started turning away motorists saying there is no written instruction from their senior officers.
“It is shocking how they are twisting the judicial process. When there is a judgment, why are they awaiting written instructions?” said Jawaid P., a lawyer from Thrissur.
Drive Without Borders, a group that started the movement against payment of road tax if a vehicle is in a State for more than 30 days, is now trying to reach out to senior officials. Group founder Waseem Memon said, “I humbly request the Transport Minister and the Transport Commissioner to instruct lower rung officials to cooperate and return the vehicles/documents, which were impounded under the atrocious 30-day rule.”
Govt. appeal likely: sources
Transport Commissioner Rame Gowda said that all RTOs had been instructed to release documents of those motorists who had been in the State for less than one year. “We have told them to release documents for such cases,” he said. However, senior officials in the Transport Department said the government had already decided to appeal against the ruling in the Supreme Court. Hence, it is unlikely that seized documents will be released till the apex court rules on the matter.
Officials have been told to release documents of vehicles whose owners have been in the State for less than one year.
Rame Gowda, Transport Commissioner
