The Madras High Court on Wednesday closed a public interest litigation filed against insistence on motorists carrying their original driving licence and not photocopies while riding two wheelers and driving cars. The case was closed as infructuous since the Centre had amended the rules and written a letter to all State governments to permit carrying of the licence in electronic form too.
A Division Bench of Justices Vineet Kothari and Anita Sumanth took note of the November 19 letter written by the Union Ministry of Road Tranport and Highways which had stated that Rule 139 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules of 1989, which requires motorists to carry only original driving licences while driving the vehicles, had been amended.
As per the amended provision, all transport related documents including registration certificate of the vehicle, insurance, fitness certificates, entry permits, driving licence and pollution clearance certificate could be produced in physical or electronic form to a police officer in uniform or to any officer authorised by the State governments concerned.
“This would enable the use of digital platforms for carrying and verification of documents and is a step towards citizen facilitation. In view of the above, it is requested to ensure compliance of the amendments made to Rule 139... and make the enforcement officers aware of the new provisions so that citizen are not harassed/inconvenienced,” the Ministry had said in the letter.
