MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court on Friday directed all Regional Transport Officers (RTOs) to conduct periodical inspections and take strict action against number plate violations across the State. A Bench of justices R Mahadevan and J Sathya Narayana Prasad passed the order while disposing of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by R Chandrasekar of Karur.
Chandrasekar alleged in his petition that photos of politicians are found on the number plates of many vehicles instead of just the vehicle registration number. Pointing out that this is in violation of the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989, he requested the court to direct the transport authorities to take necessary action against such violations.
Hearing the plea, the judges directed RTOs across Tamil Nadu to conduct periodical inspections and seize and impose heavy fines on vehicles which violate the number plate rules. According to Rules 50 and 51 of the Motor Vehicle Act, the registration letters and numbers on the number plate of vehicles should be in black on white background for two-wheelers and Light Motor Vehicles (LMV) like cars and the same should be in black letters on yellow background for commercial vehicles.
The size of the number plate and also the letters should be as per the rules prescribed for each category of vehicle and fancy lettering is not permitted. Other names, pictures, and artwork should not be displayed on number plates, the rules said.