Motor Vehicles Act Section 213 — Appointment of motor vehicles officers
CHAPTER XIV MISCELLANEOUS
Civil
Summary
Sub-section (1) allows the State Government to set up a Motor Vehicles Department and appoint officers to it, choosing whoever it considers suitable, in order to carry out the purposes of this Act.
Sub-section (2) states that every officer appointed under this section is treated as a public servant under the Indian Penal Code.
Sub-section (3) allows the State Government to make rules governing how these officers do their jobs. These rules can cover, among other things, the uniform they must wear, which authorities they report to, the duties they perform, the powers they can exercise (including powers normally held by police officers under this Act), and the conditions under which those powers are used.
Sub-section (4) allows the Central Government to set minimum qualifications, through an official notification, that these officers or any category of them must have in order to be appointed.
Sub-section (5) gives additional powers to officers who are specifically authorised by the State Government, beyond those granted under sub-section (3). Under clause (a), such an officer may make any examination or inquiry he thinks fit to check whether this Act and its rules are being followed. Under clause (b), he may, with whatever assistance he thinks necessary, enter, inspect, and search any premises occupied by a person he believes has committed an offence under this Act, or where a motor vehicle involved in such an offence is kept. However, there are conditions: a search without a warrant can only be done by an officer of gazetted rank; if the offence is punishable only by a fine, the search cannot happen after sunset or before sunrise; and when a warrantless search is done, the gazetted officer must write down the reasons for not getting a warrant and report the search to his immediate superior. Under clause (c), he may examine any person and require the production of any register or document kept under this Act, and take statements from anyone on the spot or otherwise, as he considers necessary for the Act's purposes. Under clause (d), he may seize or take copies of any registers, documents, or parts of them that he considers relevant to an offence under this Act that he believes has been committed. Under clause (e), he may launch prosecutions for offences under this Act and take a bond to ensure the offender appears before a court. Under clause (f), he may exercise any other powers that are prescribed. A final condition applies to the whole of sub-section (5): no person can be forced to answer any question or make any statement that would incriminate himself.
Sub-section (6) states that the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, apply to any search or seizure made under this section, as far as possible, in the same way they apply to a search or seizure carried out under a warrant issued under section 94 of that Code.
Official Text
(1) The State Government may, for the purpose of carrying into effect the provisions of this Act, establish a Motor Vehicles Department and appoint as officers thereof such persons as it thinks fit.
(2) Every such officer shall be deemed to be a public servant within the meaning of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860).
(3) The State Government may make rules to regulate the discharge by officers of the Motor Vehicles Department of their functions and in particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power to prescribe the uniform to be worn by them, the authorities to which they shall be subordinate, the duties to be performed by them, the powers (including the powers exercisable by police officers under this Act) to be exercised by them, and the conditions governing the exercise of such powers.
(4) The Central Government may, having regard to the objects of the Act, by notification in the Official Gazette, prescribe the minimum qualifications which the said officers or any class thereof shall possess for being appointed as such.
(5) In addition to the powers that may be conferred on any officer of the Motor Vehicles Department under sub-section (3), such officer as may be empowered by the State Government in this behalf shall also have the power to,—
(a) make such examination and inquiry as he thinks fit in order to ascertain whether the provisions of this Act and the rules made thereunder are being observed;
(b) with such assistance, if any, as he thinks fit, enter, inspect and search any premises which is in the occupation of a person who, he has reason to believe, has committed an offence under this Act or in which a motor vehicle in respect of which such offence has been committed is kept:
Provided that,—
(i) any such search without a warrant shall be made only by an officer of the rank of a gazetted officer;
(ii) where the offence is punishable with fine only the search shall not be made after sunset and before sunrise;
(iii) where the search is made without a warrant, the gazetted officer concerned shall record in writing the grounds for not obtaining a warrant and report to his immediate superior that such search has been made;
(c) examine any person and require the production of any register or other document maintained in pursuance of this Act, and take on the spot or otherwise statements of any person which he may consider necessary for carrying out the purposes of this Act;
(d) seize or take copies of any registers or documents or portions thereof as he may consider relevant in respect of an offence under this Act which he has reason to believe has been committed;
(e) launch prosecutions in respect of any offence under this Act and to take a bond for ensuring the attendance of the offender before any court;
(f) exercise such other powers as may be prescribed:
Provided that no person shall be compelled under this sub-section to answer any question or make any statement tending to incriminate himself.
(6) The provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974) shall, so far as may be apply to any search or seizure under this section as they apply to any search or seizure under the authority of any warrant issued under section 94 of that Code.