Delhi HC seeks details of rules on use of State Emblem on vehicles of constitutional authorities

The Delhi High Court on Friday asked the Centre and the city government to place before it the rules on the use of the State Emblem of India on cars of constitutional authorities and dignitaries, such as the President, instead of registration numbers.

A Bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C. Hari Shankar sought to know the exact position on the issue while posting the case for further hearing on December 20.

NGO Nyayabhoomi claimed that the practice of displaying the State Emblem, instead of the registration numbers, makes the cars conspicuous and the dignitaries become easy targets for terrorists and anyone with malicious intent.

“The practice of replacing the registration mark with the State Emblem of India, instead of displaying them both is arbitrary and symptomatic of the desire to rule rather than to serve,” the petition alleged.

It further sought directions to the Delhi government and the Delhi Police to seize the cars used by the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Vice-President, Raj Niwas and Protocol Division of the Ministry of External Affairs for not being registered under the Motor Vehicles Act. The NGO referred to an RTI response by the Ministry of External Affairs saying that none of the 14 cars maintained by its Protocol Division was registered.

It also claimed that the Rashtrapati Bhavan refused to give details of the registration numbers of its cars on the ground that disclosure of this information would endanger the security of the State and life and physical safety of the President.

It said that a person meeting with an accident involving such a car cannot bring any claim against it due to the absence of any identification mark.