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2025 Supreme(Raj) 2292
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE FOR RAJASTHAN AT JODHPUR
GANESH RAM MEENA, J.
Rahul Gehlot, S/o. Shiv Ram Gehlot - Petitioners
Versus
State Of Rajasthan, Through Its Secretary Department Of Transport – Respondents
S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 13577 of 2025, S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 10017 of 2025, S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 10165 of 2025, S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 10334 of 2025, S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 10429 of 2025, S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 10920 of 2025, S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 11459 of 2025, S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 11617 of 2025, S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 11825 of 2025, S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 13505 of 2025, S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 13506 of 2025, S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 13508 of 2025, S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 13509 of 2025, S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 14633 of 2025, S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 14794 of 2025, S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 14982 of 2025, S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 15411 of 2025, S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 1563 of 2025, S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 1705 of 2025, S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 17063 of 2025, S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 17606 of 2025, S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 17862 of 2024, S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 18200 of 2025, S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 18405 of 2025, S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 18536 of 2024, S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 18608 of 2025, S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 19216 of 2024, S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 19219 of 2025, S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 19230 of 2024, S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 19237 of 2024, S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 19344 of 2025, S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 19767 of 2025, S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 20686 of 2024, S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 20748 of 2025, S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 20987 of 2025, S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 21041 of 2025, S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 21073 of 2025, S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 2594 of 2025, S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 5175 of 2025, S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 5319 of 2025, S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 5329 of 2025, S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 5337 of 2025, S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 6076 of 2025, S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 7132 of 2025, S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 8056 of 2025, S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 9191 of 2025
Decided On : 08-12-2025
For the Petitioners: Mr. Hapu Ram, Mr. R.K. Rathi, Ms. Pragya Lakhani, Mr. K.R. Sharma, Mr. B.S. Charan, Mr. Punaram Sen, Mr. V.K. Gaur, Mr. Pritam Joshi, Mr. Mohit Mathur, Mr. Shrijeet Singh Solanki, Mr. Jitendra Joshi, Mr. Piyush Chouhan, Mr. Samir Khan, Mr. Dhirendra Bhati, Mr. Himanshu Soni, Mr. Ojas, Mr. Jay Prakash Bhardwaj, Mr. Arjun Ram, Mr. Bhakrera Ram, Mr. Ashok Choudhary, Ms. Ranjani Choudhary, Adv.
For the Respondents: Mr. Sandeep Soni, Mr. Sukhdev Sharma, Mr. Lavish Bhati for Mr. B.L. Bhati, Ms. Navya Sharma for Mr. Mahaveer Bishnoi-AAG, Ms. Neelam Sharma, Adv.
The court reinforced procedural fairness and the necessity for inquiry before taking action on vehicle registration legitimacy concerning bona fide purchasers.
Headnote:(A) Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 - Section 55(5) - The dispute concerns the genuineness of vehicle registration and compliance by bona fide purchasers - Notices issued by transport department regarding vehicle authenticity and threats of registration cancellation were contested - Inquiry into allegations shall follow submission of petitioners' representations. (Paras 3-6)
(B) Procedural fairness - The court emphasized on the need for a fair inquiry following the submission of the petitioners' credentials without coercive actions until the conclusion of the process. (Paras 5, 6)
(C) Registration procedures - The necessity of verifying vehicle authenticity to protect public interest, alongside safeguarding the rights of bonafide purchasers. (Paras 2, 4)
Facts of the case:
Petitioners, bona fide vehicle purchasers, faced notices regarding the authenticity of their vehicles from the transport department, threatening cancellation under Section 55(5) of the Motor Vehicles Act, prompting legal intervention.
Findings of Court:
Petitioners will submit representations to the transport department within four weeks; subsequent inquiries will be conducted before any actions are taken against them.
Issues: The primary issue is whether the transport department can cancel vehicle registrations based on disputable authenticity claims.
Ratio Decidendi: The court held that all parties are entitled to a fair hearing, and no coercive measures shall occur until an inquiry based on submitted representations is completed, protecting the interests of bona fide purchasers.
Result: Writ petitions disposed of accordingly.
| Table of Content |
|---|
| 1. petitioners are legitimate vehicle purchasers. (Para 1 , 2) |
| 2. dispute over vehicle registration and authenticity. (Para 3 , 4 , 5) |
| 3. court's directive for representations and inquiries. (Para 6) |
| 4. final order disposing of the petitions. (Para 7 , 8) |
ORDER :
GANESH RAM MEENA, J.
1. All these petitions involve a common question/dispute and therefore, all are being decided by this common order.
2. All the petitioners are the bonafide purchasers of the vehicles from their original registered owners or subsequent purchasers and now, the registration of vehicles is in their name by the registering authority.
3. The respondent-transport department has issued separate notices to the petitioners that the vehicles in question now registered in the name of the petitioners alleged to have been not manufactured by the registered manufacturing company and the engine no. and chasis no. of their vehicle are not be genuine one. In the notice, the respondents have also stated that the petitioners have to give explanation and if the explanation is not found to be satisfactory, the respondent-registration of the vehicle can be cancelled invoking the powers given under Section 55 (5) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.
4. After a length of arguments, counsel appearing for the respondents, so as to resolve the issue, on instructions from the department, fairly states that the petitioners may submit a detailed representation giving out their credentials as regards the purchase and registration of their vehicles by the registering authority and after receiving their representation, the department taking into consideration the facts stated in the representation submitted by the petitioners and the record available with them and after making a due verification from the earlier registering authorities, shall conduct an inquiry and on the basis of the conclusion of that inquiry, if something substantial is found to take action against the petitioners, they will issue an appropriate show cause notice and thereafter, proceed in accordance with the law.
5. Counsels for the petitioners also with fairness and to put an end to the issue accepted the proposal of the counsel for the respondent and state that all the petitioners will submit their representations to the respondent-transport department within a period of four weeks from today.
6. In view of the proposal made by the respondent-department and so also the submissions made by the counsel for the petitioners, the Court deems just and proper to dispose the writ petitions as under.
i. The petitioners shall submit their representation within a period of four weeks from today to the respective registration authority giving out the complete details as regards their purchase and registration of their vehicle. If no such representation is filed within given time, this order will render ineffective qua such petitioner and the impugned notice will got revived automatically.
ii. On receiving the representation from the petitioners, the respondent authorities shall after taking into consideration the averments made in the representation, the record available with them in respect of the vehicles in question and after due verification from the earlier registering authorities of the vehicle, shall make an inquiry as regards the allegations against the petitioners.
iii. On making an inquiry, if the respondent authorities found some substance in the allegations against the petitioners, they shall issue a show cause notice to the petitioners giving out the details and the basis of allegations.
iv. After issuing the notices, the respondents shall proceed in the matter strictly in accordance with the law and pass appropriate orders.
v. Till issuance of the final orders by the respondent authorities after completion of the process as observed above, no coercive shall be taken against the petitioners and all notices/orders as regards the cancellation or suspension of the registration certificates issued by now, shall s
