HC quashes state’s Bh-series curbs
MUMBAI: The Bombay high court struck down a circular issued by the Maharashtra government, imposing additional conditions for obtaining BH series registration for vehicles owned by government servants and people employed with private entities existing in different states.
The bench of Justice GS Kulkarni and Justice Firdosh P Pooniwalla gave this ruling on a petition filed by Mahendra Patil, a judicial officer from Maharashtra, who has contested the denial of registration for his recently acquired Mahindra XUV-700
AX7L under the Bh-series by the regional transport officer.
He approached the high court contending that BH series registration was refused for his newly purchased vehicle without citing any reasons. A Bh-series number plate, also known as Bharat series - a new system of registration introduced in 2021 that enables vehicle owners registered in one state to freely move to another with the same registration number.
He pointed out that the provision was introduced in August 2021 by an amendment to the Central Motor Vehicle Rules and the newly introduced Clause 2(cb) of the Rules only requires the person seeking BH series registration for a vehicle to furnish his or her official identity card. He said he had accordingly furnished his official identity card – indicating that he is working as a Civil Judge, Senior Division at Khed in Pune district, but his request for Bh-series registration was rejected.
He added that on enquiring, he found out that the transport commissioner had issued a circular on February 21, 2024, which imposed additional and stringent conditions for Bh-series registrations for vehicles.
The circular mandated the submission of various documents beyond what was mandated by the Central Government, including certificates of residence and payment slips from previous service tenures in various states. Patil argued that these additional requirements were arbitrary and unjustified, causing undue hardship to applicants like him.
In response, respondent authorities attempted to justify the circular, citing concerns of potential revenue loss and alleged misuse of Bh-series registrations, for which lesser fees are charged. The authorities pointed out that after the introduction of the new all-india series, 50,967 vehicles have been registered under Bh-series in Maharashtra because of which the state has suffered a revenue loss of ₹424.72 crore.
The court, however, refused to accept the argument and reiterated settled legal principles that State is under a mandate to act within four corners of the said Act and Rules framed thereunder and cannot circumvent the provisions of law, and the refusal of registration under BH series was completely without jurisdiction. The court struck down the Circular issued by the transport commissioner in February 2024, observing that in law it had “no legs to stand” and hence, it “could not have been foisted on the petitioner,” and directed the transport authorities to grant registration for the judicial officer’s vehicle in BH series in a week.