Can you drive a tractor on a Light Motor Vehicle (LMV) driving license? About 7 years ago, the Supreme Court had said that if you have an LMV driving license, you can use it to drive a tractor or road roller. Provided the weight of the vehicle does not exceed 7,500 kg. But now the court is going to give its verdict on the petition challenging that decision. After this, it will be decided whether a person holding a light motor vehicle (LMV) driving license can drive a vehicle like a tractor or not.
Let us tell you that, on Wednesday, the Supreme Court reserved its decision on the legal question “Is a person holding a driving license for a light motor vehicle (LMV) also entitled to drive a vehicle weighing more than 7,500 kg?”. In fact, this legal question has given rise to various disputes regarding the payment of claims by insurance companies in accident cases related to transport vehicles of LMV license holders.
On August 21, a bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud indicated that it would not wait for the government to submit its views on the questions arising from the challenge, meaning it could take a decision on it as soon as possible.
Nine months ago, on November 22, 2023, the Centre had informed the court that it would evaluate and recommend amendments to Sections 2(21) and 10 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (MVA), which deal with the definition of “light motor vehicle” (LMV) and the format of “driving licence”. But the government has not approached the court since then.
What is the matter and when did it start:
To understand this case, you have to go back a little. In the year 2017, the Supreme Court had to decide whether a person holding a driving license for LMV is required to obtain a separate license to drive a transport vehicle. At that time, the court had said that anyone holding a license to drive a light vehicle can also drive a road-roller, tractor and “transport vehicle” (such as goods carriers or school/college buses), provided the weight of the vehicle does not exceed 7,500 kg (without any other load). Here the court used the word ‘unladen’. Unladen weight means only the weight of the vehicle which does not include the driver, passengers or any other load.
What the Motor Vehicles Act says:
Under Section 10 of the Motor Vehicles Act (MVA), every driving licence must identify the category of vehicles that the licence holder is allowed to drive. That is, your licence should clearly state what kind of vehicles you are allowed to drive. This section divides two different categories of ‘light motor vehicles’ (LMV) and ‘transport vehicles’. Under MVA Section 2(21), LMV is defined as a transport vehicle or bus whose gross vehicle weight does not exceed 7500 kg.
According to the Indian Express report, a bench of Justices Arun Mishra, Amitav Roy and Sanjay Kishan Kaul (all now retired) had said that ‘transport vehicle’ was introduced as a class through an amendment to the Motor Vehicles Act in 1994, replacing the four old categories of passenger and goods vehicles, which were classified as light, medium, heavy and transport.
At that time, the bench had said that a separate category of ‘transport vehicles’ would not apply to vehicles falling under the definition of LMVs. Because it could lead to absurd results. The court had reasoned that “if a private car owner, who has a license to drive a light motor vehicle, attaches a carrier to his car or a trailer to his car and carries goods on it, the light motor vehicle would become a transport vehicle and the owner would not be considered a licensee to drive that vehicle.”
Challenge to the decision:
In July 2011, the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal ordered Bajaj Allianz General Insurance to pay compensation of Rs 5,02,800 to the applicant in an accident involving an autorickshaw. On appeal, the Rajasthan High Court in August 2017 held that the insurance company should pay compensation as the autorickshaw was a light motor vehicle and a transport vehicle. The high court had then cited the SC judgment in Mukund Dewangan in its judgment.
Bajaj Allianz approached the Supreme Court in 2018 and argued that the Mukund Dewangan judgment did not consider several provisions under the MVA that showed differences in the requirements for operating light motor vehicles and transport vehicles. In March 2022, the Court held that “certain provisions were not taken into account by this Court in its judgment in Mukund Dewangan”, and referred the matter to a Constitution Bench.
What happened in the Constitution Bench:
After hearing arguments for two days in July 2023, the court asked the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to present its stand on the matter. After which Attorney General of India R. Venkataramani appeared before the court on September 13, 2023 and argued that Mukund Dewangan’s decision does not appear to be in line with the MVA. The Attorney General also told the court that the Center is ready to re-evaluate the legal position on the issue. After which the court said that the government should evaluate the whole matter and present a roadmap for amendment.
Let us tell you that, on April 16, 2024, the AG informed the court that a proposed amendment was ready, but he asked to postpone the proceedings till after the Lok Sabha elections, so that it could be placed before Parliament. However, when the matter came up for hearing this month, the AG told the court that the amendment would be brought in the winter session of Parliament (which begins in December).
It is worth noting that CJI Chandrachud is retiring on November 10 and if the case is postponed further, a new bench will have to be formed and the arguments will have to be heard afresh. This entire process will take even more time. To avoid this situation, the bench has decided to complete the hearing and close the case. That is, very soon it will be decided whether you can drive a vehicle like a tractor on a Light Motor Vehicle (LMV) license or not.
Source (PTI) (NDTV) (HINDUSTANTIMES)