One year after Kurla bus tragedy, licence of its jailed driver yet to be revoked

Mumbai, Dec 9 (PTI) Even as one year has elapsed since a BEST bus claimed the lives of nine persons and left 40 others injured in Mumbai's Kurla area, the Maharashtra Motor Vehicles Department (MMVD) is yet to revoke the driving licence of its driver, who is currently in jail.

The authorities said they sent three show-cause notices to the bus driver, Sanjay More, but they could not be delivered at his residential address. Another reason for the delay is that the driver has to be given a chance to present his side before his licence is cancelled, according to them.

An electric bus hired by the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking on a wet-lease basis ploughed into a crowd on the night of December 9, 2024, fatally knocking down nine persons and injuring 40 others in the Kurla west area.

A few days after the accident, the MMVD initiated the process to revoke the driving licence of bus driver More as per the procedure laid out in the law for licence revocation in section 19 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.

The Mumbai East Regional Transport Office (RTO) at Wadala, which has jurisdiction over the entire eastern suburbs of Mumbai, claimed that they had issued three notices in the last one year, but could not serve them as More is still in judicial custody.

A senior officer of the Wadala RTO told PTI that they sent three show-cause notices to More at his residential address, but those could not be delivered to him by hand or post as he is in jail.

The officer further said that they had also received a written request from More's son, stating that his father should be given a hearing before any action is taken against his licence, as per the procedure laid out in the law for revoking a licence.

"As per the procedure, he (More) has to be given a chance to present his side, in the interest of natural justice," the officer said.

A retired officer of the MMVD said that RTOs are empowered to revoke the driving licences of drivers under certain conditions, but only after following due process, which includes issuing show-cause notices and granting a hearing.

A few days after the horrific accident on the busy road outside the Kurla station, the Mumbai police wrote to the Wadala RTO, urging the authorities to revoke More's licence considering the severity of the accident, in which multiple vehicles and pedestrians were struck by the speeding bus.

RTO records show that More's transport-category licence, initially valid for light motor vehicles, such as tempos and taxis, was issued on July 5, 1990. A year later, on August 8, 1991, he upgraded to a heavy vehicle licence for trucks and buses.

Once revoked, More's transport-category driving licence, which he has held for about 24 years now, will bar him from driving any vehicle.

More was employed by a third-party agency that supplies drivers to EVEY Trans, a subsidiary of Olectra, the e-bus manufacturer. Prior to this, he had been driving mini buses for BEST's wet-lease operators for about four years, and he was assigned to drive the 12-metre e-bus starting December 1, 2024, after joining the new company. PTI KK NP