IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.10573 of 2024 ======================================================

Abhijit Kumar S/o Sri Rashtrapati Kumar Sinha Resident of A-603, New Judges Residential Complex, Sinha Library Road, Chhajjubagh, Patna-

800001.

... ... Petitioner/s Versus

1. The State of Bihar through the Chief Secretary, Government of Bihar , New Secretariat , Patna , Bihar.

2. The Secretary, Department of Transport, Government of Bihar, Patna.

3. The District Transport Officer, Patna.

... ... Respondent/s ======================================================

Appearance :

For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Ankit Katriar For the Respondent/s : Mr. Government Pleader 27 ======================================================

CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE A. ABHISHEK REDDY

ORAL JUDGMENT

Date : 16-07-2025 Heard the learned counsel for the parties.

The present writ petition has been filed for the following relief(s):-

“1. That this is an application praying for issuance of a writ in the nature of a writ of certiorari or any other appropriate writ / order / direction upon the respondent statutory authorities to produce, before this Hon'ble Court, the circular / letter no. 7640, dated 01.12.2021, issued by the Secretary, Transport Department, Bihar, by which District Transport Officers have been directed to first ascertain as to whether the Government employees, applying for Bharat (BH) series number, could be transferred outside the State of Bihar or not, and thereafter to set aside / quash the same by holding it to be illegal, arbitrary and unconstitutional inasmuch as the same is in derogation to the relevant Rules promulgated by the Government of India under a Central Act The Petitioner also prays for issuance of a writ in the nature of a writ of mandamus or any other appropriate writ / order / direction upon the respondent statutory authorities to grant registration to the Petitioner's newly purchased vehicle (Mahindra XUV700) under the BH-Series, in consonance with the mandate of the Central Motor Vehicles (Twentieth Amendment) Rules, 2021.

The Petitioner further prays for issuance of any other appropriate writ / direction / order in the facts of the case to ensure timely and effective consequential relief to the Petitioner.”

3. The following relief(s) has been added by I.A. No. 01 of 2024.

“1. That the Petitioner has preferred the above mentioned writ application for issuance of a writ in the nature of a writ of a mandamus or any other appropriate writ / order / direction for quashing the order bearing memo no. 8712, dated 18.09.2024, issued by Respondent No. 3 (i.e. DTO, Patna), whereby the Petitioner's application for grant of Bharat Series (hereinafter referred to as "BH-Series") registration for his vehicle (Mahindra XUV700 AX7 AT) was rejected in a perfunctory and mechanical manner, based on completely non-est grounds. It is further prayed for issuance of a consequential writ in the nature of a writ of mandamus or any other appropriate writ or direction commanding the respondents to restore the Petitioner's application and grant allowance for the same.”

4. It is the case of the petitioner that he is working as a Judicial Officer of the Bihar Superior Judicial Service in the rank of District Judge (Entry Level) and he is currently posted as the 15^th Additional District & Sessions Judge-cum-Special Judge, NIA & ATS, Bihar, Patna. That the petitioner has purchased a new vehicle and wanted to get the Bharat Series (BH-Series) number for his vehicle and to that effect an application was made. That the petitioner along with the application has submitted the necessary documents with the requisite fees however, instead of granting the BH-Series to the petitioner, the petitioner has received a letter from the office of the District Transport Officer, Patna. The DTO, Patna wanted to ascertain as to whether the government employees like the petitioner who are applying for BH-Series will be transferred outside th