Supreme Court: While hearing the case regarding driving license, the Supreme Court has once again given its verdict in favor of the drivers. That is, the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court has upheld its decision of 2017. The Supreme Court has said that Light Motor Vehicle (LMV) license holders can also drive light transport vehicles. Such license holders can drive transport vehicles weighing less than 7500 kg.
The court said there was no data to suggest that LMV licence holders contributed to the increase in road accidents.
This decision has been given by a five-member constitutional bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud. This bench also included Justice Hrishikesh Roy, Justice PS Narasimha, Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Manoj Mishra. The bench had reserved its decision on 21 August.
A blow to insurance companies
This decision of the Supreme Court is a big blow to the insurance companies as earlier the insurance companies used to reject the claims in cases where the accidents involved vehicles driven by people who did not have a driving license for the transport vehicle.
The apex court has upheld its 2017 decision that allowed light motor vehicle licence holders to drive transport vehicles weighing up to 7,500 kg.
Decision in favor of transport driver
The Supreme Court was examining whether a person holding a light motor vehicle (LMV) driving licence could be entitled to drive a light motor vehicle on the basis of that licence.
The legal question related to this has given rise to several controversies over the payment of claims by insurance companies in accident cases involving transport vehicles driven by those holding LMV licences. The insurance companies had said that the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) and the courts had passed orders to pay insurance claims ignoring their objections to the LMV driving licence.
