Gurgaon: A local court has issued notices to two civil servants for allegedly failing to renew the registration of a 15-year-old vehicle. The notices were issued on a petition filed by advocate Mukesh Kulthia, who accused the officers of violating provisions of the Motor Vehicles (MV) Act and neglecting their statutory duties.Kulthia filed a criminal complaint against the two officers, who were SDMs in the 2024-26 period, arguing that the Motor Vehicles Act contains no provision banning or restricting the operation of old vehicles, and therefore, renewal cannot be denied arbitrarily. His complaint alleges that public servants refused to perform their statutory duty by denying renewal of his car’s registration without issuing any written order or reasons.He said Section 45 of the MV Act mandates that the registering authority must furnish an applicant, whose application for renewal of the certificate of registration is refused, a copy of such order, together with the reasons for such refusal.The complaints were filed under BNSS sections 33 (Public to give information of certain offences), 210 (empowers first class magistrates to take cognisance of offences) and 223 (disobedience to orders legally issued by public servants) and various provisions of the Central Motor Vehicle Act and Rules.While petrol cars older than 15 years and diesel vehicles older than 10 are barred from plying on Delhi-NCR roads through an NGT order, the case brings into the spotlight the statutory position on this.Under MV Act rules amended between 2019 and 2023, private vehicles are entitled to a 15-year registration period followed by a five-year renewal, yet the SDMs refused to process the complainant’s renewal.The petition argued that the restrictions violated the Central Motor Vehicles Act and its amendments of 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023, specifically provisions governing vehicle life and registration renewal.Under Section 41, a vehicle’s registration runs for 15 years and is renewable thereafter, while Section 46 makes that registration valid across India and Rule 52 provides for five-year renewal periods with fees prescribed under Rule 81. Section 115, the petition noted, does grant authorities powers to restrict vehicle use — but only through lawful means.“The SDMs, being the registering authority, cannot refuse to renew the registration certificate of the car of the complainant without a valid law. The statutory provision of Rule 52 of the amended Central Motor Vehicle Act and Rule imposes an obligation upon the public servant to renew the registration certificate of the complainant’s car as his public duty,” the petitioner said.Additional sessions judge Amit Gautam, while hearing the revision petition, issued notices to two officers for appearance on May 7. The ministry of road transport, meanwhile, directed SDMs to renew the vehicle’s registration certificate, citing that the prescribed fee was duly deposited.
