Page 179 - The Motor Vehicles Act, 1988

SECTION 213 THE MOTOR VEHICLES ACT, 1988 165

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[(5) Every notification issued by the State Government under section 210A shall
be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each House of the State Legislature
where it consists of two Houses, or where such Legislature consists of one House, before
that House, while it is in session for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised
in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the
session immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid, the House
agrees or both Houses agree, as the case may be, in making any modification in the
notification or the House agrees or both Houses agree, as the case may be, that the
notification should not be issued, the notification shall thereafter have effect only in
such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such
modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything
previously done under that notification.]
213. Appointment of motor vehicles officers
(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, 1860 (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 qualification 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;

1 Inserted by the Motor Vehicles (Amdt.) Act, 2019 (32 of 2019), dt. 9-8-2019, w.e.f. 1-9-2019 vide SO
3110(E), dt. 28-8-2019.