Light Motor Vehicle Driving License Issue: Supreme Court adjourns hearing till April 2024

The Supreme Court (SC) of India on January 17, 2024, adjourned the Constitution bench hearing in a case in which the question of law is “Whether a person holding a driving license in respect of ‘light motor vehicle’, could on the strength of that license, be entitled to drive a ‘transport vehicle of light motor vehicle class’ having unladen weight not exceeding 7500 Kg?” till April 2024. During the court proceedings, Attorney General of India R. Venkataramani informed the SC that deliberations regarding the possible policy changes were going on with the State Governments. Considering this, the SC bench posted the matter for directions on April 16, 2024. The bench hearing the matter constitutes Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice P.S. Narasimha, Justice Manoj Misra, Justice Hrishikesh Roy, and Justice Pankaj Mithal. While adjourning the hearing, the CJI said “Actually it’s a part-heard matter, we have heard substantially now. We had heard the other side. We will give the government time to resolve the matter, it is not resolved then we will hear the matter. We will lay down the law. Ultimately if the parliament wants to intervene it can always do so it is a statutory interpretation.” Earlier on November 22, 2023, the SC set January 17, 2024 as the deadline to review the policy, allowing a person holding a driving license for LMV to drive a transport vehicle up to 7,500 kg in weight, for the Central government.