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WP(MD)No.2261 of 2026

BEFORE THE MADURAI BENCH OF MADRAS HIGH COURT

Dated : 30/01/2026

CORAM :

THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE KRISHNAN RAMASAMY

WP(MD)No.2261 of 2026

and

WMP(MD)No.1774 of 2026

K.Kempuraj ... Petitioner

Vs.

1. The Regional Transport Officer

and Licensing Authority,

Transport Department,

Karur,

Karur District.

2. The Motor Vehicle Inspector,

Regional Transport Office,

Karur, Karur District..

3. The Inspector of Police,

Karur Town Police Station,

Karur City,

Karur District.

(In Crime No. 65 of 2026) ... Respondents

PRAYER :- Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of

India, praying this Court to issue a Writ of Mandamus, directing the

respondents to forthwith return the petitioner's original driving license

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WP(MD)No.2261 of 2026

bearing TN 47 19920000836 to him within a time limit that may be fixed

by this Court.

For Petitioner : Mr.A.Rahul

For R1 & R2 : Mrs.S.Jeyapriya, Government Advocate

For R3 : Mr.A.Albert James

Government Advocate (Crl.Side)

O R D E R

This Writ Petition has been filed seeking a direction to the

respondents to forthwith return the petitioner's original Driving License

bearing No.TN 47 19920000836 to the petitioner.

2. It is the case of the petitioner that he is working as a Driver in

the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (Coimbatore) Limited. The

original driving licence of the petitioner was seized by the second

respondent on 20.01.2026 alleging that the bus bearing Registration

No.TN 33 N 3524, driven by the petitioner on 19.01.2026, was involved

in a fatal accident resulting in the death of a pedestrian, pursuant to

which an FIR was registered in Crime No.65 of 2026, and thereafter, his

driving licence was handed over to the first respondent. In this regard,

the petitioner submitted a representation to the respondents on

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WP(MD)No.2261 of 2026

22.01.6025, however, the same has not been considered till date. Hence,

the petitioner has approached this Court by filing the present Writ

Petition.

3. Under similar circumstances, in the case of K.Perumal vs. the

Regional Transport Officer, Virudhunagar (W.P.(MD) No.9605 of

2022, dated 12.05.2022), this Court has observed as follows:

" 7.This Court perused the Motor Vehicles Act and

unable to get anything of the power of the respondents to

impound the driving licence. On the other hand, the first

respondent has the power to cancel the license, under certain

circumstances. In the present case, not even a show cause

notice was issued to the petitioner. Without issuing any show

cause notice to the petitioner, the driving licence was seized

on 02.04.2022 and till date retained by the first respondent

without any authority. At this juncture, this Court would like

to extract the relevant portion of the judgment of the Hon'ble

Division Bench of this Court in W.A.(MD) No.176 of 2009

dealing with the powers of the authorities to impound the

driving licence as below:-

'5.Therefore the question that falls for

consideration in this appeal is as to whether the

respondent has a power to impound the driving licence

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WP(MD)No.2261 of 2026

of a person involved in a road traffic accident.

6.Section 19(1) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988,

empowers the Licensing Authority to disqualify a

person for holding or obtaining any driving licence for

a specified period or to revoke any such licence.

Similarly, a Court which convicts a person for an

offence under the Act, is empowered by Section 20(1)

to disqualify such person from holding a driving

licence for a specific period. Section 21 makes a

driving licence become suspended, if the holder of the

licence had been previously convicted of an offence

punishable under Section 184 and a case had been

registered against him on the allegation of causing the

death or grievous injury to one or more persons by

dangerous driving. Sect