Sold Your Car And Didn't Change Ownership? Act Now.

'Have you sold your vehicle and not transferred the ownership? Beware! You may land yourself in a great deal of difficulty'. You may have come across the afore-stated lines or similarly stated lines in many 'Auto-Industry' related promotions and advertisements. For a layman person, this may be threatening enough to ensure immediate compliance i.e., transfer of ownership after the sale of the vehicle and rightly so. But for those who have cared less or plead ignorance of law, now is the time to act.

Recently, the Hon'ble Supreme Court in its judgment Surendra Kumar Bhilwale v. The New India Company Assurance Limited¹ dated 18.06.2020 has re-affirmed that the person in whose name the motor vehicle stands registered, would be treated as the owner of the vehicle for the purpose of the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988 ("MVA"). The Hon'ble Supreme Court drew support from its earlier judgment in Naveen Kumar v. Vijay Kumar and Ors.², wherein the Bench observed: