Eknath Shinde, Dy CMs rode in vintage car with wrong registration number, record shows

PTI, Jun 15, 2024, 8:51 AM IST

Mumbai: The vintage Rolls-Royce car in which Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his two deputies travelled while inspecting the Mumbai coastal road earlier this week sported the registration number of a truck, official record shows.

Shinde, who also holds the transport portfolio, and deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar rode in a 1930 Rolls-Royce, lent by Raymond Group chairman Gautam Singhania for the occasion, as they inspected a stretch of the coastal road on Monday before its inauguration.

The car, glossy black with chrome cladding in the front, had the licence plate number MHO4 JU4733.

It turns out that the person who painted the number got a letter wrong.

As per the Union road transport ministry’s online `VAHAN’ database, MHO4 JU4733 is the number of an Eicher truck, registered in the name of a Thane resident.

The correct registration number of the Rolls-Royce is MHO4 JV4733, sources said.

A retried RTO official, who did not wish to be named, said bearing the licence number plate of another vehicle is technically an offence.

When contacted, Hemangini Patil, regional transport officer of Thane RTO, said she would check the facts before responding.

When contacted, a Raymond Group spokesperson did not offer a comment.

Sitting on the front seat next to the chauffeur, Shinde travelled from Marine Lines to the Priyadarshini Park end of the coastal road tunnel. Fadnavis and Pawar were in the back seat.

“It was an honour to have provided the Rolls Royce 20/25 Cabriolet manufactured in 1930 from my vintage car collection to Hon. CM @mieknathshinde ji & Hon. Dy CM @Dev_Fadnavis ji at the inauguration of the north-bound arm of the Coastal Road. Just like many Mumbaikars, I am looking forward to driving on this new stretch of road soon which connects Worli to Marine Drive,” Singhania wrote on X on June 10.