Motor vehicle exemption depends on design and road capability, not mining use; dumpers remained registrable vehicles.

Dumper vehicles used in mining operations were treated as motor vehicles because the decisive test is their design and road capability, not the owner's use or manufacturing purpose. Vehicles fall outside the definition only if they are specially designed for exclusive use in a factory or other enclosed premises. As the dumpers were capable of use on roads and were not shown to be confined by design to enclosed premises, the exemption did not apply and registration was required.

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Issues: Whether the dumper vehicles used in mining operations were motor vehicles within the meaning of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939, and therefore required registration, or were excluded as special type vehicles adapted for use only in a factory or other enclosed premises.

Analysis: The definition of motor vehicle under Section 2(18) includes mechanically propelled vehicles adapted for use upon roads, and the exemption is confined to vehicles of a special type adapted for use only in a factory or in any other enclosed premises. The decisive test is the design and capability of the vehicle, not merely the purpose for which the owner uses it or the intention with which it was manufactured. A vehicle that is reasonably suitable for use on roads does not cease to be a motor vehicle because it is employed mainly within a mining area. On the material before the Court, the dumpers were capable of road use and were not shown to be incapable of use outside the mining area or to be confined by their very design to enclosed premises.

Conclusion: The dumpers were held to be motor vehicles liable to registration, and the claimed exemption did not apply; the petitioner was not entitled to relief.

Ratio Decidendi: For the purpose of Section 2(18) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939, a vehicle is excluded from the definition of motor vehicle only if its design confines it to use exclusively within a factory or other enclosed premises, and mere special-purpose use does not attract the exemption.

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