In a judgment which could affect livelihood of poor auto-rickshaws/cabs drivers Rajashtan high court has ordered cancellation of all light motor vehicle driving license issued to illiterate people. Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma of the Rajasthan High Court has directed the state transport authorities to withdraw driver’s licence issued to illiterate persons, terming them a “menace for the pedestrians“.
In the matter the court states “The license cannot be allowed to be issued for driving any kind of vehicle to an illiterate person as he is virtually a menace for the pedestrians as he would not be in a position to understand road signs and notices of caution written on boards for human safety on the highways as well as on the roads in the cities. The license of Light Motor Vehicles issued to the petitioner and similar persons also must be therefore withdrawn in the light of what has been stated herein above.“
“In the opinion of this court, the Motor Vehicle Rules are required to be framed not only for the benefit of persons who seek license but also taking into consideration the public who are using the roads, “ added the court.”
In this regard, it may be noted that the Motor Vehicles Act or the Central Motor Vehicle Rules do not prescribe any minimum educational qualification for possessing driving license for light motor vehicles. The minimum educational requirement is prescribed only for transport license, which is a pass in Class VII. The Court here also did not refer to any empirical data to support the premise that most accidents were caused by illiterate drivers. In July 2017, the SC had held that a driver holding LMV license can drive transport vehicle of LMV category without any extra endorsement to drive transport vehicle.
The order was passed in a petition filed by a light vehicle motor vehicle license holder seeking the Court’s intervention in obtaining a transport vehicle licence. The petitioner submitted that he had been driving light motor vehicles for 13 years before he sought the transport licence. However, the matter took an ironic turn when the Court instead focused on the fact that the petitioner had been issued his driver’s licence although he was illiterate and unable to read or write.
Withdrawal of all LMV licenses issued to illiterate persons will affect those who used to earn livelihood by plying transport vehicles of LMV category such as auto-rickshaws, cabs etc.
Complete judgement below:
Judgement downloaded from www.livelaw.in
