KOCHI: The Kerala High Court on Thursday asked the Motor Vehicle Department to consider the allotment of fancy numbers to vehicles without insisting on valid temporary registration certificates.A Division Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice P R Ramachandra Menon, passed the order while considering a batch of petitions challenging the denial of fancy registration numbers to vehicle owners.The application for the number was rejected on the grounds of inability in producing valid temporary registration. The petitioners submitted that they had produced a number of documents indicating the ownership of the vehicles, with the exception of the valid temporary registration certificate, but the authorities had rejected the applications. “There was no need for valid temporary registration to get a permanent registration certificate. Then why are the authorities insisting on it,” the court asked.Most of the applications were rejected citing that the validity of the certificate had expired. However, the court said that the temporary certificate, even if expired, would indicate ownership of the vehicle and other details. So, the court struck down the word ‘valid’ in clause (ii) of sub-rule (5) of the Kerala Motor Vehicles Rule 95. The transport commissioner submitted that the government brought the amendment in the rule to put an end to the growing menace of touts and other third parties.Kerala Motor Vehicles Rule 95 states that reservation of fancy numbers could be given only to the registered owners of the vehicle. The temporary registration certificate was insisted on to ensure that only the genuine applicants approach the authorities, the commissioner said. However, the court said that the temporary registration was issued only to transport a vehicle from one place to the other, if the place of purchase was different from the place of registration of the vehicle.
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