New Delhi: Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the authorities concerned to act strictly against unauthorised fitting of crash guards or bull bars on vehicles.
A bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela stated that “crash guards and bull bars on motor vehicles are not allowed and the government agencies shall implement the provisions of law rigorously as spelled out under the Motor Vehicles Act.”
The ministry of road transport and highways had in December 2017 issued a notification and directed all states to take stern action against unauthorised fittings on vehicles. In 2018, the high court had stayed the Centre’s notification, which led to a freeze in issuance of challans against the offending vehicles. However, the stay was later vacated by the high court in 2019.
The Centre’s standing counsel, Anil Soni, stated that crash guards and bull bars could cause grievous injuries to pedestrians if the vehicle hit them. If a vehicle with crash guard meets with an accident, the airbags will not open and this raises safety issues, he added.
The court was hearing a plea by Aarshi Kapoor and Sidharth Bagla, represented by advocate Anil Kumar Aggarwal. The plea claimed that while these bumpers might look stylish, in high-speed accidents, these would defeat the in-built safety features of the car, resulting in serious and fatal injuries.
Another plea before the court was by one Mohammed Arif, who claimed to be a manufacturer and dealer of crash guards and bull bars and had challenged the ministry’s 2017 advisory to the states. He argued the Centre’s decision had no legality as there was no rule, law or bye-law dealing with accessories such as crash guards or bull bars.
The dealer also said that “bull bars do not fall under the purview of section 52 of the Motor Vehicle Act, because the section pertains to modification in a vehicle and not with after-market fitments.”
