Parting with the practice of displaying just the State Emblem of India, the vehicles of constitutional authorities and dignitaries, such as the President, the Vice-President, Governors and Lieutenant Governors will soon have to display their registration numbers.
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has informed the Delhi High Court that it has written to the authorities concerned to get these high security vehicles registered.
In an affidavit filed before the High Court, the Ministry said, “The offices of the President of India, Vice President, Governors and Lieutenant Governors in the country and Secretary (Ministry of External Affairs) have been asked in a January 2, 2018 letter to ensure that all the vehicles used by the President/President’s Secretariat, Vice President/Vice President’s Secretariat, Governor/ Lieutenant Governors/ or their officers/secretariat, Ministry of External Affairs be registered, if not done, and that they display registration mark as per the rules”.
The affidavit further said that in pursuant to the letter, the Vice-President secretariat informed that “all the vehicles of this secretariat display their registration number”.
The Ministry’s response came in the backdrop of a petition, filed by NGO Nyayabhoomi, which claimed that the practice of displaying the state emblem , instead of the registration numbers, make the cars conspicuous, and the dignitaries may become easy targets for terrorists or anyone with malicious intent.
