Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Monday asked the state to defer the implementation of a circular issued by the transport commissioner bringing changes to the guidelines on the modalities till May 15. A single bench observed that some more time has to be granted to the applicants who had qualified to undertake the driving test before February 16 on which date the circular was issued. The court passed the order while disposing of a petition filed by K.N. Mohanan, owner of a driving school in Thrissur. The transport commissioner had made changes to the existing dimensions of the driving test tracks for different kinds of vehicles.
The court pointed out that a person who had already obtained learner’s licence and finished training under a driving school in accordance with the guidelines that were existing prior to the introduction of the present guideline now has to undergo training again. The transport commissioner should have published the revised guideline months in advance. The circular was issued on February 12 and the implementation of it was extended till April 1. Applicants who have completed training had got only 45 days to the test in accordance with the pre-revised guidelines.
This period was too short for the candidates to qualify the driving test. Hence some more time should be granted to them, the court held. The new guidelines include gradient tracks for vehicles in the automated as well as non-automated testing tracks. The changes will cause inconvenience to thousands of candidates possessing learner’s licence. These candidates have already undergone training as per the pre-revised guidelines for driving test. With the changes, the learner’s licence would become redundant for them, the petition stated.
