A Division Bench of the High Court of Karnataka on Wednesday kept in abeyance the single judge’s September 20 order, which had directed the State government to formulate a scheme to ensure that all vehicle manufacturers can grant approval across board to all manufacturers of the High Security Registration Plate (HSRP) possessing Type Approval Certificate (TAC), to fix HSRP to old vehicles registered before April 1, 2019, in Karnataka.
The Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Prasanna B. Varale and Justice Krishna S. Dixit passed the interim order to facilitate the State government and other stakeholders to have a deliberation in the meeting, which is scheduled to be held in the first week of November, on the issue of modalities to fix HSRP to old vehicles.
The Bench passed the interim order during the hearing of a PIL petition, filed by one Gowrishankar S., who had sought implementation of the Government Order of August 17, 2023, for fixing HSRP to old vehicles; and an appeal filed by the State government on the interim direction given by the single judge to formulate the scheme.
The single judge had directed formulation of the scheme within 15 days while hearing the petitions filed by HSRP Manufacturers’ Association of India and others. The association had complained that the government’s decision to allow affixation of HSRP only through vehicle manufacturer-selected HSRP manufacturers would favour “influential” HSRP manufacturers, who have already tied up with vehicle manufacturers and their dealers for supply of HSRP for new vehicles.
