Supreme Court gives relief to lakhs of bus-truck drivers, these people will be able to drive transport vehicles weighing up to 7500 kg

The Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court upheld its 2017 decision, in which Light Motor Vehicle (LMV) license holders were allowed to drive transport vehicles weighing up to 7500 kg. The Constitution Bench headed by the CJI had reserved its decision on this matter after completing the hearing on August 21.

Accidents are not caused only by light vehicle drivers!
The Constitution Bench comprises Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice Hrishikesh Roy, Justice PS Narasimha, Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Manoj Mishra. While delivering the verdict, Justice Hrishikesh Roy said, ‘Road safety is a serious public issue globally. And 1.7 lakh people died due to road accidents in India. To say that all this happened due to light vehicle drivers is baseless. The reasons behind this are not following seat belt rules, use of mobile, being drunk etc. Driving requires special skills. Handling the slopes of the road requires attention and avoiding distraction.

Beginning his judgment on a humorous note, Justice Roy, while delivering the verdict of the five-judge Constitution bench, said that most of us believe that ‘those who drive slower than us are fools and those who drive faster than us are mad.’ The 126-page judgment was full of problems for drivers like long driving hours.

‘Licensing system cannot remain static’
Justice Hrishikesh Roy ruled, ‘The decision of this court will also help in insurance claims by light vehicle holders who are found driving vehicles weighing less than 7500 kg. The licensing system cannot remain static. We hope that suitable amendments will be made to remove the existing loopholes. The Attorney General has assured that this will be done.’