HC asks Karnataka’s reply on driving tests in RTOs

Bengaluru, dhns: The High Court on Tuesday directed the government to respond to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) which contended that driving test is not being done as prescribed under Rule 15 of the Central Motor Vehicle Rules.

A division bench headed by Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka observed that a ‘very serious issue’ has been raised by the petitioner (appearing party-in-person) Gowrishankar S, a resident of Bengaluru.

The petitioner alleged that Rule 15 of the Central Motor Vehicle Rules is given a complete go-by while conducting driving test for grant of licence.

He said the figures that he has obtained under the RTI showed that in some of the RTOs, 75 to 100 tests are conducted in a day.

He claimed that considering the large number of tests being conducted by the RTOs, it is impossible to strictly follow Rule 15. The matter has been posted to August 12, for considering the statement of objections to be filed by the
government.

The petitioner prayed for a direction to the government to diligently follow the Central Motor Vehicle Rules in terms of driving tests.

The petition said the driving test (Rule 15) is an elaborate process and the RTOs are required to note comments for each test item.