Now Reading: Bombay HC: Helmets not meeting Indian standards cannot be sold
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Bombay HC: Helmets not meeting Indian standards cannot be sold
The Bombay High Court has ruled that helmets not conforming to Indian Standards under the Quality Control Order (QCO) 2020 cannot be sold or used after June 1, 2021, even if they…
The Story in Brief
The Bombay High Court has ruled that helmets not conforming to Indian Standards under the Quality Control Order (QCO) 2020 cannot be sold or used after June 1, 2021, even if they were imported before that date. Hearing a plea by Project Revolt LLP, which had 90 imported helmets seized by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), the court partly allowed the petition. It directed the return of the helmets to the petitioner only for destruction, explicitly barring any sale in the market. The court also asked the BIS to drop the criminal prosecution against the firm. The petitioner had argued that the imported helmets met stricter European standards, but the court noted that Indian standards were designed by experts from AIIMS, taking into account local safety needs and climate. Citing a Supreme Court precedent on BS-III vehicles, the bench held that allowing sale of non-compliant stock would defeat the purpose of the QCO.
The Indian Opinion
The narrative that foreign safety standards are always superior and should override Indian rules is exposed as hollow by this judgment. European certifications are not automatically better; Indian standards were designed by AIIMS doctors for local conditions, climate, and rider demographics. The court rightly insisted on compliance rather than deferring to imported labels. Still, the decision to allow return of seized helmets only for destruction, years after import, leaves importers uneasy. The real test will be whether the BIS now streamlines its own certification process to reduce the gap between international and domestic norms.
Sources (2): livelaw.in, hindustantimes.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources.
