eCourtsIndia
IndiaCode Laws
Section209
The Motor Vehicles Act

Restriction on conviction

In force Act 59 of 1988 As on 18 Oct 2026

Read from the scanned gazette. India Code publishes no text for this Act, so the text below was read from the Government's own scan by machine and split into sections by its numbering. It has not been checked against the page word by word. Where it matters, read the scan. Read the scan.

Act 59 of 1988

This is a second copy of a Central Act. India Code files it on Haryana's shelf as well as under Parliament, and the text is the same enactment. Read it at The Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, which is the record this site keeps current.

Read from the scanned gazette. India Code publishes no text for this Act, so this text was read from the Government's own scan by machine and split into sections by its numbering. It has not been checked against the page word by word. Where it matters, read the scan. Read the scan.

Section 209 of the Motor Vehicles Act deals with restriction on conviction. No person prosecuted for an offence punishable under section 183 or section 184 shall be convicted unless- (a) he was warned at the time the offence was committed that the question of prosecuting him would be taken into consideration, or (b) within fourteen days from the commission of the offence, a

No person prosecuted for an offence punishable under section 183 or section 184 shall be convicted unless- (a) he was warned at the time the offence was committed that the question of prosecuting him would be taken into consideration, or (b) within fourteen days from the commission of the offence, a notice specifying the nature of the offence and the time and place where it is alleged to have been committed was served on or sent by registered post to him or the person registered as the owner of the vehicle at the time of the commission of the offence, or (c) within twenty-eight days of the commission of the offence, a summons for the offence was served on him:

Provided that nothing, in this section shall apply where the Court is satisfied that- (a) the failure to serve the notice or summons referred to in this sub-section was due to the fact that neither the name and address of the accused nor the name and address of the registered owner of the vehicle could with reasonable diligence have been ascertained in time, or (b) such failure was brought about by the conduct of the accused.

Section 209, The Motor Vehicles Act (Act 59 of 1988).

Cross-references

Extracted from the operative text of the enactments themselves. Every destination below exists in our corpus.

This section refers to

  1. s. 183 Driving at excessive speed, etc
  2. s. 184 Driving dangerously

Questions about Section 209

What does Section 209 of the Motor Vehicles Act deal with?

Section 209 of the Motor Vehicles Act is headed "Restriction on conviction". No person prosecuted for an offence punishable under section 183 or section 184 shall be convicted unless- (a) he was warned at the time the offence was committed that the question of prosecuting him would be taken into consideration, or (b) within fourteen days from the commission of the offence, a

How do I find court cases under Section 209 of the Motor Vehicles Act?

In judgments and charge sheets this section is written several ways, and each form finds a different set of orders. These search the full text of every order eCourtsIndia holds, best matches first: Motor Vehicles Act 209, section 209 Motor Vehicles Act, section 209 of the Motor Vehicles Act. Each opens the full list of orders on eCourtsIndia, where it can be narrowed by court, year and outcome.

What should I read with Section 209 of the Motor Vehicles Act, and has it changed?

Its own text turns on section 183 (Driving at excessive speed, etc), section 184 (Driving dangerously), so none of them can safely be read on its own.

When was the Motor Vehicles Act enacted?

Motor Vehicles Act was enacted in 1988 as Act 59 of 1988. India Code records no commencement date for it. It is in force as at the date shown on this page.

Other sections of this Act

Source and method. Compiled from the enactments of Parliament and of the State legislatures as published on India Code, and republished together with commentary and other original matter under section 52(1)(q)(ii) of the Copyright Act, 1957. Structured, cross-referenced and maintained by eCourtsIndia. Read from the Government's own scanned gazette with Azure Document Intelligence, then split into sections by their numbering. India Code publishes no text for this Act. The scan itself is mirrored into our own storage and served at /scan/f09db275-80d6-4bd5-924c-03ac08727bdc.pdf, so the reading here can be checked against the page it came from without depending on India Code's own copy staying where it is (it was at https://indiacode.gov.in/server/api/core/bitstreams/e36db003-a500-4cf2-aaa3-05b529659cd2/content). This page is not a substitute for legal advice.