CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court has directed a dealer in Balasore, to pay Rs 1 lakh in compensation to the petitioner for its failure to forward registration documents of her tractor to the Regional Transport Office.
The order was passed by Justice SK Panigrahi on October 31 while disposing of Arnapurna Behera’s writ petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution. The petitioner had sought direction to the Regional Transport Officer, Balasore, to register her John Deere 5042D Tractor, purchased in 2021.
Despite having paid Rs 45,000 towards registration fees and allied charges to the dealer, the vehicle remained unregistered for over four years, allegedly due to the “gross negligence, dereliction of statutory obligation, and administrative indifference” of the dealer.
Behera’s counsel submitted that the tractor was later seized by the Oupada IIC due to the lack of registration, even though the petitioner had complied with all legal requirements. The counsel argued that the petitioner, “having duly complied with the requirements of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 and the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, cannot be penalised or prejudiced on account of the fault of an intermediary.”
After examining the case, Justice Panigrahi observed that the situation was a “direct manifestation of administrative apathy and the indifference of a statutory intermediary”. The judge noted that the petitioner “has acted in good faith and has neither been remiss nor negligent,” holding the dealer solely responsible for the failure.
“This court cannot remain a passive onlooker to such a situation wherein a citizen, despite full compliance with statutory formalities, is rendered remediless by the inaction of an intermediary operating under the aegis of the state’s regulatory regime,” Justice Panigrahi said.
He emphasised that “the principle of administrative accountability, which underlies Article 14 of the Constitution, mandates that public or quasi-public entities discharging statutory functions be answerable for acts of omission that result in deprivation of legal rights”.
Holding the dealer accountable, Justice Panigrahi imposed a compensatory cost of Rs 1 lakh and directed him to hand over all pending documents within 15 days, failing which contempt proceedings would follow.