The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that a person holding a driving license for a light motor vehicle (LMV) without any specific endorsement was allowed to drive a transport vehicle having an unladen weight of less than 7500 kg.
The Constitution Bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice Hrishikesh Roy, Justice PS Narasimha, Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Manoj Misra ruled that a driver holding an LMV licence for vehicles under weight 7500 kg was permitted to operate a transport vehicle without needing additional authorisation under Section 10(2)(e) of the MV Act.
Authored by Justice Roy, the Apex Court held that the second part of Section 3(1), which emphasised the necessity of a specific requirement to drive a transport vehicle, did not supersede the definition of LMV provided in Section 2(21) of the MV Act.
The additional eligibility criteria specified in the MV Act and MV Rules generally for driving transport vehicles would apply only to those intending to operate transport vehicles exceeding 7500 kg, such as medium goods vehicles, medium passenger vehicles, heavy goods vehicles, and heavy passenger vehicles, it added.
The five-judge Constitution Bench adopted a harmonious interpretation of the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, as done in the case Mukund Dewangan vs Oriental Insurance Company Limited (2017) 14 SCC 663.
No empirical data was brought before the Court to show that LMV license holders driving transport vehicles were a significant cause of road accidents, noted the Court.
Approaching the matter from the perspective of livelihood issues of transport vehicle drivers, it said for licensing purposes, LMVs and transport vehicles were not entirely separate classes. An overlap existed between the two. However, the special eligibility requirement would continue to apply to, inter-alia, e-carts, e-rickshaws, and vehicles carrying hazardous goods, added the Bench.
The issue pertained to whether a person holding a driving licence in respect of an LMV, could on the strength of that licence, be entitled to drive a transport vehicle of light motor vehicle class having unladen weight not exceeding 7500 kg.
The matter first arose in the case Mukund Dewangan v. Oriental Insurance Company Limited (2017) 14 SCC 663. A three-judge Bench of Justice Amitava Roy, Justice Arun Mishra and Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul had ruled that a separate endorsement in the Light Motor Vehicle driving licence was not required to drive a transport vehicle having unladen weight below 7500 kg.
Thus, a person holding an LMV driving licence was entitled to drive a transport vehicle of light motor vehicle class having an unladen weight not exceeding 7500 kg. In 2022, the dictum in Mukund Dewangan was doubted by a Coordinate Bench, after which the matter was referred to a five-judge Constitution Bench.
During the hearings, the Court pointed out the possible impact the present case may have on the issue of livelihood. It asked the Union to consider probable policy changes in the legislation to strike a balance between the livelihood issue and road safety concerns.
Appearing for the Union government, Attorney General R Venkataramani had apprised the Court that deliberations on the possible policy changes relating to relevant amendments in the Motor Vehicles Act 1988 (MVA) were almost complete with State Governments on the present issue.
However, since the deliberations did not yield a concrete result, the Constitution Bench had chosen to decide the matter on merits and reserved the judgment on August 21.