A Division Bench of the High Court of Karnataka has dismissed State government’s appeal against a single judge order directing the transport authorities to register under “Bharat (BH)” series the new non-transport vehicles of employees having transferable jobs in private companies.
Observing that the Central government had amended the Motor Vehicles Rules in 2021 to enable registration for employees working in certain sectors having transferable jobs, the Bench said that “once the rules framed under Section 65 of the MV Act by the Central are made applicable, the State governments have to implement it in view of the constitutional mandate provided under Article 256 of the Constitution.”
The Bench comprising Chief Justice Prasanna B. Varale and Justice M.G.S Kamal passed the order while upholding the single judge’s order of December 16, 2022.
The State Transport Department, in a circular issued on December 20, 2021, had extended benefit of BH series scheme only to vehicles owned by officers of All India Service, Central v\government employees holding posts of inter-State transfer, and bank officers holding posts of inter-State transfer, even though the Central government had extended the benefit to employees of private sector too.
State govt.’s contention
The Bench said that the State government will have to implement the Centre’s scheme in its entirety while rejecting the State government’s claim that private sector employees are appointed on temporary/contract basis and that their continuity in service is not assured to extend the benefit of the scheme.
The logic of temporary/contract basis and uncertainty in service would also apply for employees of other sectors who are given benefit of the BH-series registration by the State government, the Bench observed.
The Central government had said that facility under BH series is applicable on voluntary basis to Defence personnel, employees of Central government/State government/Central/State Public Sector Undertakings, and private sector companies/organisations, which have their offices in four or more States/Union Territories.
