Section42
The Motor Vehicles Act

Special provision for registration of motor vehicles of diplomatic officers, etc

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 Cited by 2 provisions

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 42 of the Motor Vehicles Act deals with special provision for registration of motor vehicles of diplomatic officers, etc. Where an application for registration of a motor vehicle is made under sub-section (1) of section 41 by or on behalf of any diplomatic officer or consular officer, then, notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (3) or sub-section (6) of that section, the registering authority shall register

(1) Where an application for registration of a motor vehicle is made under sub-section (1) of section 41 by or on behalf of any diplomatic officer or consular officer, then, notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (3) or sub-section (6) of that section, the registering authority shall register the vehicle in such manner and in accordance with such procedure as may be provided by rules made in this behalf by the Central Government under sub-section (3) and shall assign to the vehicle for display thereon a special registration mark in accordance with the provisions contained in those rules and shall issue a certificate (hereafter in this section referred to as the certificate of registration) that the vehicle has been registered under this section; and any vehicle so registered shall not, so long as it remains the property of any diplomatic officer or consular officer, require to be registered otherwise under this Act.

(2) If any vehicle registered under this section ceases to be the property of any diplomatic officer or consular officer, the certificate of registration issued under this section shall also cease to be effective, and the provisions of sections 39 and 40 shall thereupon apply.

(3) The Central Government may make rules for the registration of motor vehicles belonging to diplomatic officers and consular officers regarding the procedure to be followed by the registering authority for registering such vehicles, the form in which the certificates of registration of such vehicles are to be issued, the manner in which such certificates of registration are to be sent to the owners of the vehicles and the special registration marks to be assigned to such vehicles.

(4) For the purposes of this section, "diplomatic officer" or "consular officer" means any person who is recognised as such by the Central Government and if any question arises as to whether a person is or is not such an officer, the decision of the Central Government thereon shall be final.

Section 42, 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.

Questions about Section 42

What does Section 42 of the Motor Vehicles Act deal with?

Section 42 of the Motor Vehicles Act is headed "Special provision for registration of motor vehicles of diplomatic officers, etc". Where an application for registration of a motor vehicle is made under sub-section (1) of section 41 by or on behalf of any diplomatic officer or consular officer, then, notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (3) or sub-section (6) of that section, the registering authority shall register

How do I find court cases under Section 42 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 42, section 42 Motor Vehicles Act, section 42 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 42 of the Motor Vehicles Act, and has it changed?

Its own text turns on section 39 (Necessity for registration), section 40 (Registration, where to be made), section 41 (Registration, how to be made), so none of them can safely be read on its own. 2 other provisions in this corpus refer back to it.

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.