Sikkim High Court
Piyush Tewari, Founder & Managing ... vs Chief Secretary, Govt. Of Sikkim And Ors on 25 June, 2014
Author: S.P. Wangdi
Bench: S.P. Wangdi
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WP (PIL) No. 13 of 2014
THE HIGH COURT OF SIKKIM AT GANGTOK
JUDGMENT
D.B. W.P. (C) No. 13 of 2014 Piyush Tewari, Founder and Managing Trustee, SaveLIFE Foundation, A-223, Ansal Chamber-1, Bhikaji Cama Place, New Delhi-110 066, India.
... Petitioner.
- versus -
1. The Chief Secretary, Government of Sikkim, Gangtok, East Sikkim.
2. The Secretary, Home Department, Government of Sikkim, Gangtok.
3. The Secretary, Transport Department, Government of Sikkim, Gangtok.
4. The Director General of Police, Government of Sikkim, Gangtok.
... Respondents.
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WP (PIL) No. 13 of 2014 CORAM HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE MR. JUSTICE N. K. JAIN HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE S.P. WANGDI, JUDGE Date of Judgment : 25.06.2014 For Respondents : M/s. Karma Thinlay, Sr. Government Advocate with S.K. Chettri and Pollin Rai, Asstt. Govt. Advocates.
Jain, CJ (Oral).
The present Public Interest Litigation arises out of a letter dated 26th March, 2014 written by SaveLIFE Foundation, New Delhi to the Director General of Police, Sikkim and a copy of which was endorsed to the Chief Justice of this Court. Considering the importance of the matter, the said letter was treated as Writ Petition (PIL). It was mentioned in the letter that the Government of India, Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways, vide G.S.R. 152(E) dated 5th March, 2014 has deleted the proviso from sub-rule (8) of Rule 93 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 3 WP (PIL) No. 13 of 2014 1989 (for short, 'the Rules of 1989'), which allowed for good carriages to be loaded with any pole or rods upto 1 meter beyond the rear most point of the motor vehicle. Since the proviso has been deleted, therefore, a ban should be imposed on the goods carrier from carrying protruding rods and poles. The contents of the letter are reproduced as under: -
"I am writing to bring to your notice the recent notification of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India, being G.S.R. 152(E) dated 5th March, 2014, which delets the proviso from Rule 93 (8) of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, which allowed for goods carriages to be loaded with any pole or rods upto 1 meter beyond the rear most point of the motor vehicles. As you are perhaps aware, such protruding materials have been responsible for thousands of road accidents and deaths every year in India. The said notification has been issued in response to the PIL in the Supreme Court of India filed by SaveLIFE Foundation.
Once the ban on protrusion from the rear of trucks, mini-trucks, vans, and other goods carriers is enforced by your department, it will save hundreds of life in your State every year. A copy of the notification and a related news report dated March 8th 2014 is enclosed herewith.
We hope that your department will enforce the ban resulting from this notification at the earliest."
2. This Court admitted the writ petition on 3rd April, 2014 and issued notices to (i) the Chief Secretary, Government of Sikkim, Gangtok; (ii) the Secretary, Home Department, Government of Sikkim, Gangtok; (iii) the Secretary, Transport Department, Government of Sikkim, 4 WP (PIL) No. 13 of 2014 Gangtok and (iv) the Director General of Police, Government of Sikkim, Gangtok.
3. In response to notice, respondent No. 3, the Secretary, Transport Department, filed its compliance report on 07th May, 2014 containing therein that in pursuance of notification of Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways dated 5th March, 2014, a letter was issued by the Secretary, Transport Authority, being letter No. 2463/MV/T dated 7th April, 2014 to the Senior Regional Transport Officer, East and Regional Transport Officers of other Districts under the Motor Vehicle Division of Transport Department for their information and to take necessary action as per the notification. It is further mentioned in the compliance report that a notice No. 03/MV/T dated 22nd April, 2014 was also issued for information of general public and vehicle owners in this regard, the notice dated 22nd April, 2014 was also published in two local daily news papers i.e. Sikkim Express dated 27th April, 2014 and Himali Bela dated 27th April, 2014. Copies of the notice published in two daily news papers have also been annexed with the compliance report. 5 WP (PIL) No. 13 of 2014
4. The matter was listed on 09th May, 2014 and the compliance report of respondent No. 3 was taken on record, however, this Court directed respondent No. 4, Director General of Police, to file his own affidavit about action taken and proposed action to be taken by him in this regard. Thereafter, respondent No. 4 also filed his own affidavit on 29.05.2014, wherein he reiterated the action taken by respondent No. 3, Secretary, Transport Department and further submitted that on 05th April, 2014, a direction was issued by him to all the District S.P.s and DIG, Range for strict compliance to the amendment made in the Central Motor Vehicle Rules. He has also stated in his affidavit that District S.Ps have submitted their reports to the DIG, Range, wherein all Police Officers including SDPOs, SHOs, traffic, field officers and all police out-posts and check-posts have been sensitized about the Central Motor Vehicle (2nd Amendment) Rules, 2014 (for short, 'the Amendment Rules of 2014') and to take action strictly if there is violation of amended Rules. The said affidavit/compliance report of respondent No. 4 was taken on record by this Court on 17th June, 2014.
6WP (PIL) No. 13 of 2014
5. The matter was listed on 25th June, 2014 and on that day the learned Addl. Advocate General submitted that the Transport Department has also issued letters/notices to Truck Owners' Association and Truck Drivers' Association to comply with the provisions of Rule 93(8) of the Rules of 1989, he prayed for and was granted some time to place the said notices on record also. Thereafter, further compliance report by respondent No. 3 was filed on 16th June, 2014, which was also taken on record.
6. Respondent No. 3 in its further compliance report submitted that on 08th April, 2014, letter No. 2815/MV/T has been issued to the President, Sikkim Truck Owners' Association and President, Truck Driver-cum-Owner Association informing that the proviso to sub-rule (8) of Rule 93 of the Central Motor Vehicle Rules has been omitted vide Central Government Gazette Notification dated 5th March, 2014 and henceforth no load should extend beyond the size of the body of the vehicle. A copy of the letter dated 8th May, 2014 has been enclosed with the compliance report. It has also been mentioned that the Secretary, Transport Department on 6th June, 2014 republished the notification 7 WP (PIL) No. 13 of 2014 dated 5th March, 2014 issued by the Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways, Government of India in the Sikkim Government Gazette dated 06th June, 2014.
7. From the above facts and circumstances and the compliance reports submitted by respondents No. 3 and 4, it reveals that all actions which were and are required to be taken in pursuance of amended Rule, have been taken by respondents. In these circumstances, we are of the view that there is no need to issue any further direction to the respondents in the facts and circumstances of the present case. However, we hope and trust that respondents will ensure strict compliance of amended Rule 93(8) of the Rules, 1989 in future also.
8. With the aforesaid observations, this Writ Petition stands disposed off.
(S.P. Wangdi) (N.K. Jain)
Judge Chief Justice
25.06.2014 25.06.2014