New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that drivers holding a light motor vehicle (LMV) licence can also drive transport vehicles with weight up to 7,500 kg.
A Five Judge Constitution Bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud, Justices Hrishikesh Roy, PS Narasimha, Pankaj Mithal and Manoj Misra said that a person holding a driving licence for a light motor vehicle (LMV) entitled to drive a transport vehicle with an unladen weight not exceeding 7,500 kg.
The bench held that a transport vehicle which has an unladen weight below 7,500 kg, is also a Light Motor Vehicle (LMV).
Justice Hrishikesh Roy delivered the 126-page judgment and said, “Concerns about road safety are often founded on individual biases without any empirical basis.”
“We have to decide whether an LMV license holder can drive a transport vehicle if the total vehicle weight does not cross 7500 kgs. “In this judgment let us name our driver, Shree. He spends the most number of hours behind the driver’s wheel and spends time ferrying goods and persons from one person to another.”
Justice Roy further said that road safety is a serious public issue globally and 1.7 lakh persons were killed in India due to road accidents and to say that all was because of LMV drivers is unsubstantiated.
There are reasons such as noncompliance with seat belt rules, use of mobiles, being inebriated etc. driving needs special skills and handling road gradiance needs attention and be free of distraction.
Justice Roy said, “A pronouncement from this court will also help in making insurance claims by an LMV holder who is found driving a vehicle weighing within 7500 kgs.
“The licensing regime cannot remain static, and we hope suitable amendments are made to address the lacunae as it exists and Attorney General R Venkataramni has assured that the same will be done,”Justice Roy said.
He said , “We hold that if transport vehicle weight is within 7500 kgs then an LMV license holder can also drive the same transport vehicle. No data has been shown to support otherwise.
The matter pertains to a question referred to a Constitution Bench in March 2022 by a three-judge bench since there were some variances in terms of the eligibility to get a license under the two categories, as per different provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act.
The three-judge Bench had stated that the top court’s 2017 decision in Mukund Dewangan v Oriental Insurance Company Ltd, which held that a transport vehicle less than 7500 kg is an LMV, and ignored provisions in the 1988 Motor Vehicles Act.
The matter was then handed over to the Constitution Bench which heard 76 petitions on the same issues and pronounced its judgement today.
