Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Friday ruled that officials can not insist on producing the Registration Certificate of JCB excavator 81 Hitachi for releasing it from custody as it is not a vehicle but a machine. The court issued the order while considering a plea challenging the magistrate’s order denying the application for interim custody of the excavator. 

On Thursday, Justice VG Arun relied on the High Court decision in Rajesh v State of Kerala (2020), which held that a Bob Cat excavator is not a vehicle and, therefore, is not liable to be registered under the Motor Vehicles Act.

The plea was moved in a case related to the death of the machine’s operator who died after falling from a height while removing pieces of rubber wood from a property. Following the accident, the police seized the excavator. When the owner approached the court for interim custody of the machine, the magistrate rejected his plea, saying that a Registration Certificate and other documents must be submitted to prove ownership.

In the petition before the HC, the owner contended that the order is made on the wrong premise that the petitioner was seeking release of a 'vehicle'. However, the Public Prosecutor disputed this argument and noted that the expression 'vehicle' was used in the sale letter which is indicative of the fact that seizure is not of a machine but a vehicle.

The HC judge observed that the Contractors Plant and Machinery Insurance Policy taken in connection with the excavator would show that it was a machine. Therefore, the HC held that the magistrate cannot insist on production of registration certificate along with the application seeking release of the excavator. The High Court allowed the petition directing the magistrate to reconsider the application and pass order within 2 weeks.

(with Live Law inputs)