The Court based its decision on Section 40 of the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988 as well as relevant advisories issued by the Central government.
The Kerala High Court recently held that a person residing in or having their place of business in a State can get their vehicles registered at any registering authority of the same State. [Sabeer A v. State of Kerala & Ors]
Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh held so in light of Section 40 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (MV Act) as well as relevant advisories issued by the Central government.
“Considering the language implied in Section 40 of the MV Act and advisory issued by the Central Government, it is evident that the jurisdiction is in respect of the State and not in respect of the registering authority for registering the motor vehicle. A person residing in a State or having a place of business in a particular State can get the motor vehicle registered by any of the registering authorities of that State,” the Court said in its judgment.
The judgment was passed on a petition moved by the owner of a vehicle seeking an order to the Attingal Regional Transport Authority (RTO) to complete the registration process and issue the necessary certificate for his vehicle.
Even though he was issued a temporary registration certificate by the Attingal RTO, he was told to approach the Kazhakootam RTO as he wasn’t residing in the jurisdiction of the Attingal RTO.
Before the High Court, the petition argued that following the 2019 amendment to Section 40 of the MV Act, every owner of a vehicle is entitled to get it registered within the State of his residence from any registering authority.
The Government Pleader representing the State, however, argued that the amended provision indicates that the residence or the place of residence where the vehicle is normally kept has to be within the jurisdiction of the registering authority.
The Court noted that Section 40 of the MV Act reads as follows:
40. Registration, where to be made. – Subject to the provisions of section 42, section 43 and section 60, every owner of a motor vehicle shall cause the vehicle to be registered by [any registering authority in the State] in whose jurisdiction he has the residence or place of business where the vehicle is normally kept.
It also observed that the phrase “any registering authority in the State” was inserted instead of “registering authority” by the 2019 amendment. From this, the Court concluded that the jurisdiction mentioned is with regard to the State and not specific registering authorities.