Ambassador painted with artwork could pose ‘serious law enforcement problem’ — appeal in HC

An HC bench had earlier asked Chandigarh administration to register the Ambassador car painted with Senkoe artwork. But an appeal has now been filed against the order.

The Ambassador car belonging to Ranjit Malhotra of Chandigarh | By special arrangement

Chandigarh: The Chandigarh administration has dug in its heels over the unusual question of whether a vehicle with artwork can be registered or not.

Two weeks after a single-judge bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court asked it to register an Ambassador car painted over by renowned Mexican artist Senkoe, the Chandigarh administration has moved the HC challenging the 14 July order. The case is likely to be heard this week.

In its appeal filed Monday, the administration has contended that allowing the petition would cause a “serious potential law enforcement problem on account of the fact that in common practice a Motor Vehicle is identified by its Registration Number and Colour by the Authorities (including law enforcement)”.

“The colour of a Motor Vehicle, as a matter of fact, takes precedence since it is the most recognizable/distinguishable feature of a vehicle for its prima facie identification by authorities including law enforcement,” said the appeal.

The case came up after Ranjit Malhotra, a city-based lawyer, bought the 2009 model Ambassador from a counsellor of the European Union posted in Delhi in 2019. However, the city administration refused to register the car on the grounds that the artwork on the car violates the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988.

‘Collector’s item’

Speaking to ThePrint, Malhotra said the vehicle is a “collector’s item”. “I purchased it from Mr. Thibault Devanlay, Counsellor, EU, Delegation to India in July, 2019. The car had a diplomatic registration plate ‘107 CD 42’. The main motivation to purchase the car was the artwork on it by Senkoe, a renowned Mexican artist,” he said.

“I made seven visits to the office of the Chandigarh RLA (registering and licensing authority) and showed them photographs of the vehicle even before I purchased it. I brought the car to the office of the RLA on 10 August, 2019 for inspection. I was verbally told by the inspector that the vehicle cannot be registered as it was not fully white in colour,” said Malhotra.

Malhotra represented his case to the administration multiple times without any result. He moved the HC in September last year.

The administration told the HC that the registration has been declined because the owner had altered the basic structure of the vehicle — in this case the white colour of the car — which is a violation of Section 52 of the Motor Vehicle Act. This section states that the owner of a motor vehicle cannot change the particulars contained in the certificate of registration from those originally specified by the manufacturer.

However, Justice Jaishree Thakur rejected the administration’s contention and ordered them to register the vehicle. In her order, she noted that since the base colour of the car was still white, the basic structure of the car had not been changed.

In its latest appeal, the administration contended that the Act and Rules of 1989 do not provide or acknowledge the concept of base colour and main colour of car. “The Act and rules do provide for certain colours and inscriptions to be made in tourist vehicles, construction vehicles, transport vehicles etc but those are specifically provided under the rules,” it said.

Malhotra said the administration was to comply with the judgment within two weeks, but nothing has been done. “In fact, I was served a copy of the appeal on Friday evening,” he said.