The Hindu : National : Court nod for tamper-proof number plates

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 01, 2004

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National

Court nod for tamper-proof number plates

By Our Legal Correspondent

NEW DELHI, NOV. 30. The Supreme Court today gave its approval for the Centre's decision to make it compulsory for over 80 million vehicles in the country to have high security tamper-proof number plates from January 1, 2005 at an estimated cost of around Rs. 4,500 crores.

A three-member Bench, comprising Justice Y.K. Sabharwal, Justice D.M. Dharmadhikari and Justice Tarun Chatterjee, dismissed all the petitions filed by various Associations of Registration Plate Manufacturers of India (ARPMI) challenging the tender conditions imposed for manufacture of such number plates.

It will be obligatory for motor vehicles in the country to switch to the new number plate system within two years.

The Bench upheld the Centre's contention that only those manufacturers who fulfilled the stringent conditions would be allowed to make them.

The new plates were to be implemented from October 1, 2001 but litigation before the High Courts and later in the Supreme Court resulted in the postponement of the deadline.

The erstwhile NDA Government opted for this practice in use worldwide to prevent theft of vehicles, their use for terrorism and other illegal activities.

The movement of vehicles with such plates could be monitored through electronic gadgets by the licensing authorities.

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