IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT : THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE P.N.RAVINDRAN MONDAY, THE 14TH MARCH 2011 / 23RD PHALGUNA 1932 WP(C).No. 7822 of 2011(C) -------------------------------- PETITIONER(S): ------------------- RENEESH EDATHIL, EDATHIL, FLORICAN HILL ROAD, KARAPARAMBA, KOZHIKODE. BY ADV. SRI.P.DEEPAK RESPONDENT(S): --------------------- THE REGISTERING AUTHORITY, KOZHIKODE, PIN - 673 001. BY GOVT.PLEADER SRI.BASANT BALAJI THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 14/03/2011, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING: svs C.R. P.N.RAVINDRAN, J. --------------------------- W.P.(C) No. 7822 OF 2011 -------------------------- Dated this the 14th day of March, 2011 J U D G M E N T The short question that arises for consideration in this writ petition is whether the period of three months stipulated in sub rule (10) of rule 25 of the Kerala Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 for the production of a vehicle for the purpose of registration by the person who has reserved a fancy number under rule 95 thereof, is three months from the date of reservation or the date of auction. The brief facts of the case are as follows: 2. The petitioner submitted an application under rule 95(1) of the Kerala Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 for registration of the fancy number KL-11/AG 6666, by remitting the prescribed fee of Rs.2,000/-. It appears, three other persons had submitted similar applications on the same day seeking reservation of that number under rule 95(1) and therefore, in terms of the provisions contained in sub rule (4) of rule 95 of the rules, the Regional Transport Officer, Kozhikode conducted an auction among the four applicants. The petitioner was the highest bidder in that auction. The auction was initially scheduled to be held on 14.12.2010. However, the auction was adjourned to 28.12.2010 and then to 4.1.2011 when it was held. In the auction, the petitioner was the highest bidder, his bid being Rs.12,100/-. The other bids were Rs.5,600/-, Rs.5,500/- and WPC No.7822/2011 2 Rs.5,000/- respectively. The petitioner remitted the sum of Rs.12,100/- in full on the day of the auction itself. The registering authority thereupon issued Ext.P2 order dated 4.1.2011 whereby after referring to the result of the auction and the deposit of the auction money by the petitioner, he was directed to produce the vehicle within three months from 4.12.2010 along with the original of Ext.P2 order. The petitioner was also informed that if he fails to produce the vehicle for registration within three months from 4.12.2010, the allotment will stand cancelled and the reservation fee will be forfeited. The petitioner received Ext.P2 by post on 6.1.2011, but he produced the vehicle for registration only on 11.3.2011. The registering authority therefore declined to register that vehicle by allotting the fancy number reserved by Ext.P2. Hence this writ petition. 3. The main contention raised by the petitioner is that as the auction was conducted and the number was reserved in his favour in the auction held on 4.1.2011, the period of three months stipulated in sub rule (10) of rule 95 of the Kerala Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 expires only on 4.4.2011 and therefore, the stand taken by the respondent cannot be sustained. The petitioner contends that as the series beginning with the alphabets 'AG' has been exhausted and registration in the next series 'AH' has started, the number KL-11/AG 6666 cannot be allotted to any other person and such being the situation, the respondent may be directed to register WPC No.7822/2011 3 the vehicle produced by him on 11.3.2011 by allotting the registration number KL-11/AG 6666 to that vehicle. 4. I heard Sri.P.Deepak, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner and Sri.Basant Balaji, learned Government Pleader appearing for the respondent. Rule 95 of the Kerala Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, which is relevant for the purpose of this case, reads as follows: Rule 95:- Reservation of fancy registration number:- (1) Reservation of fancy registration number may be made for the registration of a new motor vehicle under Section 39 of the Act or the assignment of a fresh registration mark under Section 47 of the Act, on application made by the proposed purchaser or owner of the vehicle, as the case may be. (2) The Transport Commissioner may notify the fancy numbers to be allotted by advance reservation under sub rule (1). (3) Any number other than those notified under sub-rule (2) may also be reserved under sub rule (1) if any person so applies. (4) An application under sub rule (1) shall be accompanied by a fee of rupees two thousand. If more applications than one are received on the same day for a particular registration number, the number shall be allotted to the highest bidder in an auction to be conducted in the manner laid down by the Transport Commissioner. (5) Reservation of a particular registration number under sub- rule (1) shall be made within the range of 250 numbers immediately following the last number registered in serial order. (6) The registering Authority shall notify for the information of the applicants the date, time and place of the auction. (7) The highest bidder shall pay the bid amount less the fee for reservation already paid immediately after confirmation of the auction in his favour. (8) The application fee paid by the unsuccessful applicants WPC No.7822/2011 4 shall be refunded. (9) In case the highest bidder fails to pay the bid amount as provided in sub-rule (7), the number shall not be alloted to him and the application fee paid by him shall also be forfeited and the number shall be allotted to the next highest bidder from among the remaining bidders who pays the bid amount as provided in the said sub-rule. (10) If, for any reason, the vehicle for which a particular number has been reserved is not produced for registration within a period of three months from the date of reservation of the number, such reservation shall cease to have effect and the reservation fee or the bid amount, as the case may be, paid by the person in whose favour the number is reserved shall be forfeited. Such numbers and the fancy numbers notified by the Transport Commissioner under sub-rule (2) in respect of which no application has been received shall be allotted serially under the normal procedure immediately after all the numbers in the current series are exhausted. (11) The registration number reserved as aforesaid shall not be transferable except with the vehicle to which the number is assigned.” (emphasis supplied) 5. The petitioner submitted an application under sub rule (1) of rule 95 on 4.12.2010 by remitting the fee of Rs.2,000/-. Three others also submitted similar applications for reservation of the very same number. Therefore in terms of sub rule (4) of rule 95 an auction was conducted on 4.1.2011 to select the person to whom the fancy number has to be allotted. In that auction, the petitioner was the highest bidder. But he did not produce the vehicle within three months from the date of the application. The short question is whether the period of three months commences from the date of submission of the application for reservation or from the date of WPC No.7822/2011 5 the auction, if an auction is held. In my opinion on the terms of rule 95 it cannot be said that the reservation of a fancy number takes place only after an auction is held. Sub-rule (1) of rule 95 states that reservation of fancy registration number may be made for the registration of a new motor vehicle under section 39 of the Act or the assignment of a fresh registration mark under section 47 of the Act, on application made by the proposed purchaser or the owner of the vehicle, as the case may be. Sub-rule (4) of rule 95 states that an application under sub rule (1) shall be accompanied by a fee of rupees two thousand. It is also stipulated that if more than one application has been received on the same day for a particular registration number, the number shall be allotted to the highest bidder in an auction to be conducted in the manner laid down by the Transport Commissioner. Sub-rule (5) of rule 95 states that reservation of a particular registration number under sub-rule (1) shall be made within the range of 250 numbers immediately following the last number registered in serial order. From a reading of the rules, it is evident that reservation of a fancy registration number is made by submitting an application accompanied by a fee of Rs.2,000/-. Such reservation can only be in respect of a number falling within the range of 250 numbers immediately following the last number registered in serial order. Therefore, on a given day, an application for reservation can be made and the number reserved WPC No.7822/2011 6 only in respect of the 250 numbers immediately following the last number registered on the previous day. In the instant case, if the petitioner was the only applicant who sought reservation of the fancy number KL-11/AG 6666, no auction would have been necessary. An auction was required to be conducted as more than one person had reserved the same fancy number. The reservation is not made after the auction. It is the reservation that necessitates the auction. Sub-rule (10) of rule 95 states that if, for any reason, the vehicle for which a particular number has been reserved is not produced for registration within a period of three months from the date of reservation of the number, such reservation shall cease to have effect and the reservation fee or the bid amount paid by the person in whose favour the number is reserved shall be forfeited. Sub-rule (10) fortifies the position that the reservation takes place on the day the application for reservation is submitted. 6. It is evident from the pleadings that on 4.12.2010, four applications for reservation of the number KL-11/AG 6666 had been received, thereby attracting sub rule (4) of rule 95. It was in view of the large number of applications that an auction was required to be conducted. The auction was conducted on 4.1.2011 and in that auction the number was allotted to the petitioner, the highest bidder. Though the petitioner paid the bid amount on the date of the auction itself, he did not produce the WPC No.7822/2011 7 vehicle within three months from the date on which he reserved the number. The petitioner admittedly produced the vehicle only on 11.3.2011, after the expiry of three months from the date of reservation, namely 4.12.2010. The registering authority was therefore perfectly right in declining to allot the number KL-11/AG 6666 to the vehicle produced by the petitioner on 11.3.2001. On the terms of sub rules (4) and (5) of rule 95 it cannot be said that the number KL-11/AG 6666 stood reserved in favour of the petitioner only on 4.1.2011 and therefore he had three months time from 4.1.2011 to produce the vehicle. Likewise, there is also no merit in the contention of the petitioner that as the series “AG” stands exhausted the number cannot now be allotted to any one else. Sub rule (10) stipulates that if the vehicle for which a particular number has been reserved is not produced for registration within the stipulated time, such reservation will cease to have effect and such number will be alloted serially under the normal procedure immediately after all the numbers in the current series are exhausted. Therefore the said contention also does not merit acceptance. I therefore find no grounds to entertain the writ petition. The writ petition fails and is accordingly dismissed. P.N.RAVINDRAN, (JUDGE) vps WPC No.7822/2011 8 WPC No.7822/2011 9