A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Monday issued notice to the government and the Motor Vehicles Department on a writ petition seeking a directive to the State government to implement strictly the provision of the Kerala Motor Vehicle Rules that mandates bus operators to fit their vehicles with pneumatic doors.
When the petition came up for hearing before the Bench of Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice P.R. Ramachandra Menon, the government submitted that the department had ordered that the provisions be strictly implemented in Ernakulam district. The court then asked why no order had been issued to implement the provisions across the State.
The petition was filed by High Court lawyer K.P. Ramachandran.
According to him, the government had incorporated a provision for pneumatic doors through an amendment brought in to the Kerala Motor Vehicle Rules, 2011.The amended rule 2 of Rule 280 stipulated that vehicles not fitted with pneumatic doors shall not be registered after July 1, 2011. However, the Transport Commissioner had stayed the implementation of the provisions on the ground that no objection had been invited to the draft amendment notification, the petitioner pointed out