MARGAO
Will these brand new three trucks worth around Rs 37 lakh lying in the Margao Municipal garage for want of registration go the GSUDA sweeping machine way?
Exactly a year ago at the first meeting of the new Margao Municipal Council held in July last, the issue over these three trucks took the centrestage after the newly-elected councillors led by former Chairperson Ganashyam Shirodkar questioned the delay in registering the vehicles.
The three BS4 compliant vehicles were purchased by the civic body just a couple of days before the BS4 regime came into force in April 2021. Since then, the three vehicles had been lying in the showroom of the dealer, released to the civic body only recently.
While the trucks are parked inside the Municipal garage, the Margao Municipal Council is yet to take a call on knocking the doors of the Supreme Court seeking nod for the registration of the trucks. For, the Supreme Court has been monitoring the implementation of the BS6 regime and opinion obtained by the Municipal officials has revealed that only the apex court has the power to order registration of the BS4 compliant vehicles.
The MMC, however, finds itself in a Catch-22 situation. For, realisation has dawned on the civic Babus that the Council will have to foot the legal fees of the lawyers engaged by the civic body to file the plea in the Supreme Court. Rough estimates have pegged the legal fees of a Supreme Court lawyer around Rs 4-5 lakh, sources said.
The Council, however, is yet to take a call on engaging a lawyer to appear before the Supreme Court, not ready to take a risk in spending fees amounting to Rs 4-5 lakh on a lawyer in order to register the vehicles worth Rs 37 lakh.
