Motor vehicles department intercepts Navy bus for flouting rules

KOCHI: Rulers of the seas can't take rules of the land for granted. This was the bitter lesson that Navy personnel of the southern naval command learnt at the hands of the motor vehicles department (MVD) on Sunday.
The MVD intercepted a Navy bus that was illegally carrying a marriage party at Aluva on Sunday. The bus was coming from Perumbavoor. MVD sources told TOI that the Navy vehicle was impounded during a routine check."We stopped it during our operation to check violation of traffic rules. The 50-seater bus with civilian passengers on board was proceeding to Panangad," sources said.
"It was found that the bus and those who had contracted it had flouted rules in the Motor Vehicle Act. They can operate a vehicle as a contract carriage only if they remit a specified tax amount," MVD officials said.
Navy people used the bus as a contract carriage without paying the stipulated tax. "We are strict in impounding private vehicles which are being used as contract carriage," officials said.
"We asked the Navy officials concerned to pay a fine of Rs 38,000 as pending tax and Rs 5,000 for using the official vehicle for personal use," an official said. The bus was later released. However, the Navy has not paid the fine till now.
When contacted, Navy sources confirmed the incident. They said the bus was allowed to be used for a marriage function following a sailor's request. "But the bus was allegedly misused by a civilian employee of the command," sources confirmed.
"We have a welfare scheme that allows the defence personnel to contract our vehicles for private functions like marriage, etc. There was a violation of rules in this case. We have decided to carry out a departmental inquiry into the incident," Navy sources said.