A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court has held that the State Motor Vehicles authority is entitled to blacklist a vehicle or incorporate the details of any crime in which a vehicle is involved on the Parivahan portal.
The Bench led by Chief Justice S. Manikumar observed that the Motor Vehicles authority is vested with ample powers to incorporate the details of the offences in relation to a vehicle on the Parivahan portal as per the clear provision of law.
The court made the ruling recently while dismissing an appeal filed by a vehicle owner against the inclusion of the crime registered against him following a dispute over the payment of the price of the vehicle.
The Bench observed that the definition of ‘portal’ under the Central Motor Vehicles Rules made it clear and specific that there was a provision for the recording of offences, including compounding, impounding, making endorsements, suspension and revocation of licences and registrations.
For cautioning public
The court said that it was clear and convincing from the definition of web portal that the portal was created for the larger interest of cautioning the public or any person dealing with a particular vehicle.
The Government Pleader submitted that the ‘Parivahan – Sewa’ project was the flagship project initiated by the Centre in the light of a new amendment to rule 139 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, which validated the electronic form of motor vehicle documents. The new web-based software, called ‘Parivahan/Vahan’ developed by the National Informatics Centre and controlled by the Centre Road Transport Ministry consisted of numerous modules and one such module is ‘Blacklist’, which includes the vehicle numbers and licence numbers having audit objections, complaints, court cases and check reports. The provisions incorporated in the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 ensured that sufficient details were included on the portal so as to caution the public at large in respect of the vehicle involved in any crime or cases.
