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Mukund Dewangan v. Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd. etc.

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 5826 of 2011)Decided 11 Feb 2016
Civil Appeal No. 5826 of 2011
Justice Kurian Joseph · Justice Arun Mishra

Background

This is a referral order, not a final judgment. The question was whether a driver licensed only for light motor vehicles needs an additional endorsement to drive a transport vehicle, such as a goods carriage or passenger vehicle, that falls within the same weight class. Earlier two-judge Benches of the Supreme Court had given conflicting decisions on this point.

Decision Breakdown

This is a referral order, not a final judgment. The Court examined the statutory definitions, the 1994 amendment history, the prescribed forms and the conflicting decisions, but did not resolve the conflict itself. It directed that the matters be placed before the Chief Justice of India to constitute a larger Bench to resolve the conflict. It framed four questions of law for that larger Bench.

Lesson Learnt

There is no final ruling yet in this order on what licence is required to drive a transport vehicle within the light motor vehicle weight category. The question was left for a larger Bench.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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