Court stays cancellation of vehicle registration
After listening to both accounts, the court passed an interim order as requested by the plaintiffs.
Civil Court on Monday issued an interim injunction staying a transport ministry decision to cancel the registration of some vehicles over alleged irregularities in the registration process.
In September, the ministry cancelled the registration of some vehicles on the grounds that they were illegally registered.
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A total of 136 vehicles have been unlisted so far
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These include vehicles that had aged as per the local regulations
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Also vehicles that have their registration illegally transferred to Male zone
Owners of nine vehicles that had their registration nixed have filed a civil suit against the transport ministry. The plaintiffs have sought:
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1-
To declare the transport ministry’s decision violates the rules for registration of vehicles
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2-
To issue an interim order upon the transport ministry to not treat them as invalid registers and to provide services to these vehicles without any discrimination until the civil court pronounces its verdict in the case.
As per the civil court's decision on the interim order sought in the case, the plaintiffs pointed out:
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The transport ministry announced the cancelled registrations without informing of the violation charged with.
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The owners of the vehicles were not notified before cancelling the registrations
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The decision to cancel the registration was taken without even seeking comments from the owners of the vehicles
In response, the state said:
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The announcement notifying the cancelled registrations has stated the reason for cancellation
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The reasons for cancellation include the expiry of registration in the Maldives and the illegal transfer of registration to Male zone
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The plaintiffs had created their registrations by giving unverified information, against the rules; hence, there is no place to conclude that the transport decision is illegal not right
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The loss incurred by the state in allowing such illegal registrations without cancelling them will be much higher than the damage caused to the plaintiffs due to the cancellation of their registrations
After listening to both accounts, the court passed an interim order as requested by the plaintiffs. As per the court order:
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It has been proven that these registrations were created by the transport ministry; the ministry is also not averse to it.
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The nulled registrations include vehicles used for personal use and livelihoods, and cancelling registrations of such vehicles affect personal lives and incomes, since the vehicles cannot be used with nullified registrations
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A private property owned after spending a lot of money has been lost and the owners will have to spend a lot of time to get it back
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Even in the case where the state may have the capacity to compensate for the losses caused by the sudden cancellation of vehicle registrations, it is difficult to assess the damage caused to the owners due to the high number of vehicles that have been cancelled
Therefore, the Civil Court held that the plaintiffs had the right to sue for the violation of their rights and to seek an interim injunction. The court, therefore, passed an interim order directing the transport authorities not to treat cancelled registrations as invalid and to provide services for these vehicles without any discrimination until the court passes a verdict.
