Karnataka High Court Stays Ban On 100 cc Two-Wheelers With Pillion Seat

In a sudden turn of events, the Karnataka High Court on November 3 stayed the state government's order to ban the registration of two-wheelers with a pillion seat, which are below the engine capacity of 100 cc. Last month the Karnataka state government had proposed the ban based on Rule 143(3) of the Karnataka Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, which says that two-wheelers below 100 cc cannot have a pillion seat. The order was passed by the Karnataka High Court based on a petition that was filed by two-wheeler manufacturers, TVS Motor Corporation and Hero MotoCorp.

Also Read: Karnataka Might Re-Work Its Pillion Rider Ban On Two-Wheelers Up To 100 cc

Evidently, it's true that the Rule 143(3) has been present in Karnataka state since 1989 but the law was never enforced before. Apparently, it only came to the State Government's notice in 2015, when the Karnataka High Court has had asked the government to enforce the law after it made a ruling in a motor vehicle accident case.

The court also wanted to know if the rule was in place for 27 years why wasn't it enforced and also why the government waited for two more years after it was brought to their notice, before deciding to enforce the rule. Now, the court has asked the government to come out with an amendment for the rule if they want the stay to be removed.

We did try and to speak to the two-wheeler manufactures regarding the government rule and the High Court stay order. While a spokesperson from TVS Motor Corporation did confirm that the company had submitted a petition with the high court, they denied commenting on anything further with regards to the petition or the rule. Hero MotoCorp, on the other hand, was unavailable for any comment and our queries to the company remained unanswered..