“State Not Empowered To Frame Rules For Motor Driving Schools”: Allahabad HC

Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court has ruled that Section 27 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, grants the central government exclusive authority to create rules governing the licensing and regulation of motor driving training schools.

Consequently, the state government lacks the competence to issue its own regulations in this area.

This decision arose from a challenge to a 2023 order by the Uttar Pradesh government, which established a Standard Operating Procedure for private motor driving training schools. The UP Motor Training School Owners Association, along with seven other petitioners, contested the legality of this order.

In its judgment delivered on October 25, 2024, a bench consisting of Justices Anjani Kumar Mishra and Jayant Banerji struck down the government’s order. The petitioners’ counsel argued that the central government solely holds the power to regulate schools providing instruction in motor vehicle operation and related matters.

The bench noted that Section 28 of the Act explicitly bars the state government from making rules that fall under the purview of the central government’s authority.

They stated, “Various paragraphs and clauses of the impugned Government Order clearly fall within the domain of rule-making power of the Central Government alone.”

The court further dismissed the standing counsel’s claim that the government order merely supplemented existing central rules, asserting that this argument was not tenable.

K.M. Bajpai, President of the UP Motor Training School Owners Association, welcomed the ruling and expressed hope that the state would consider the interests of motor driving school operators in future decisions.