School authorities booked after RTO finds school bus with 2 chassis numbers
According to the Navghar police in Mulund East a team of the RTO found the irregularity during a routine check on December 16 at Gavanpada in Mulund
MUMBAI: The police have registered a case against the directors and principal of Orchid School, Mulund East, the directors of the Institute of Learning and Education in Kurla East, and a vehicle dealer after the Regional Transport Office (RTO) found a school bus carrying two different chassis numbers.
According to the Navghar police in Mulund East a team of the RTO found the irregularity during a routine check on December 16 at Gavanpada in Mulund. The bus, a 50-seater belonging to Orchid School, was stopped for inspection when officials noticed discrepancies in its identification details.
The police said the front chassis number of the bus was registered in the name of the principal of Hanslaxmi Charitable Trust, Orchid International School, Thane, with the dealer listed as ‘The Agustya’ in Bengaluru. However, the rear chassis number showed a different owner, the Institute of Learning and Education, Orchid International School, Nehru Nagar, Kurla East, and a different dealer, VE Commercial Vehicle Limited in Thane.
The police said that the accused had used the chassis number of another school bus to avoid road tax, registration fees and other mandatory charges.
A police officer said, “RTO officials instructed the bus driver to first drop the students and return to them for further inquiry. However, the driver fled, and the vehicle was later recovered from the school premises.” The police added that repeated attempts to seek clarification from the school authorities failed.
The police estimate that the school authorities must have evaded tax of nearly ₹8 lakh, apart from around ₹66,000 in unpaid charges related to registration, RTO inspection, smart card issuance and other fees.
Sanketkumar Chavan, an officer at the Wadala RTO said, “The school has a total of five buses, and they didn’t undergo any mandatory checks of RTOs thus causing great dangers to the life of the students.”
Deputy regional transport officer, Pallavi Kothawade, said, “We have started a drive to check school buses and other commercial vehicles for the required permissions. It was during this drive that our squad found the school bus which was not registered with us.”
Based on the RTO’s complaint, the police booked the two schools and the vehicle dealer under sections 125 (acts done rashly or negligently that endanger human life or personal safety), 318 (cheating), 336 (forgery) and 340 (forging documents or electronic records and fraudulently using them as genuine) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, under sections 192 (allowing the use of an unregistered vehicle) and 39 (necessity for registration) of the Motor Vehicle Act, and section 12 (arrears of tax and interest recoverable as arrears of land revenue) of the Maharashtra Motor Vehicles Tax Act.
HT’s attempts to contact the principal of the Orchid School, Mulund East, the directors of the Institute of Learning and Education in Kurla East, and VE Commercial Vehicle Limited, Thane, were unsuccessful.
Mumbai police have filed charges against the directors and principal of Orchid School and another educational institute after discovering a school bus with mismatched chassis numbers, indicating tax evasion of nearly ₹8 lakh. The bus was flagged during a routine RTO inspection. Authorities are investigating further, as the schools allegedly failed to meet mandatory vehicle regulations.