The Allahabad High Court has ruled that the Uttar Pradesh government lacks the authority to regulate motor driving training schools, a power that rests solely with the Central Government under the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989.
In a significant judgment, Justices Anjani Kumar Mishra and Jayant Banerji struck down a state government order from 2023 that established a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for private motor driving schools. This order was challenged by the UP Motor Training School Owners Association along with seven other petitioners.
The court’s decision, dated October 25, 2024, confirmed that while the state can make certain rules under Section 28 of the Act, it cannot infringe upon areas exclusively governed by central legislation, specifically Section 27, which vests the power of licensing and regulating driving schools with the central government.
“The various paragraphs and clauses of the impugned government order clearly fall within the domain of the central government’s rule-making powers,” stated the bench in their ruling. They rejected the state’s argument presented by the standing counsel, who claimed the order was merely supplemental to existing central rules.
KM Bajpai, President of the UP Motor Training School Owners Association, hailed the judgment. He expressed hope that future decisions by the state would consider the interests of motor driving school operators more carefully, respecting the delineation of authority set forth by national legislation.
