The Hindu 02.12.2011
Two-wheeler stands must get licence from municipalities: HC
Staff Reporter
Individuals who want to use their lands as private
vehicle stands for cycles and other two-wheelers must obtain a licence
from the local body concerned under the Tamil Nadu District
Municipalities Act, 1920, the Madras High Court Bench here has held.
Justice
K. Chandru passed the ruling while dismissing a batch of writ petitions
filed by those managing private vehicle stands at Virudhunagar,
Srivilliputtur and Rajapalayam Municipalities. The petitioners included
the Pennington Committee, a 130-year-old registered society based in
Srivilliputtur.
According to them, Section 270E of
the Municipalities Act insists on obtaining licence only for a ‘cart
stand' and not for a bicycle or other two-wheeler stand. They also
claimed that they were running the stands for many years and hence they
could not be prevented all of a sudden without any justification.
The
petitioners further stated that the properties belonged to them and so
they had every right to carry on whatever trade they wished to.
They
termed the municipalities' insistence on obtaining licences as a
violation of their right to carry on any trade or business under Article
19(1)(g) of the Constitution.
Rejecting all their
contentions, the judge pointed out that an explanation appended to
Section 270B (provision of public cart stands) stated that a cart-stand
would, for the purposes of the Act, include stand for carriages
including motor vehicles within the meaning of Indian Motor Vehicles Act
and animals.
Further Section 3 (5) of the Act
defined ‘carriage' as any wheeled vehicle with spring or other
appliances acting as springs and “includes any kind of bicycle,
tricycle, rickshaw and palanquin, but does not include any motor vehicle
within the meaning of the India Motor Vehicles Act, 1914.”
Section
3 (6) defined the term ‘cart' as “any wheeled vehicle which is not a
carriage but does not include any motor vehicle within the meaning of
the India Motor Vehicles Act, 1914.” A combined reading of the
provisions would prove that bicycle stands could not be run without
obtaining a licence.
“Therefore, the right of a
private cart stand operator depends upon the decision of a municipality
and no fundamental right to carry on trade can be pleaded by private
operators. No person was authorised to run a private vehicle stand
without the permission of the municipal council,” the judge added.
