GUWAHATI: The Gauhati High Court directed the respondents in a PIL, including the central government, state government, Transport Department, and the Inspector General of Police (Traffic and Road Safety), to file their response to the petition within a period of two weeks.
The bench of Chief Justice Vijay Bishnoi and Justice Suman Shyam issued the direction in a public interest litigation petition (PIL/46/2024) filed by Benudhar Das against E-Challans served upon the registered owners of the motor vehicles for violations like parking in ‘No parking’ areas and jumping traffic lights.
The petitioner states that the owners are forced to pay the amounts specified as fines as the Transport Department stops all services, including transfer and renewal of the vehicle registration certificate, renewal of the driving license, and Pollution under Control certificate, until the penalty is paid.
The petitioner stated that he has come to know that the enforcement officers, on the basis of photographs and CCTV footage of the motor vehicle, issue E-Challans alleging unauthorised parking and/or breach of speed limit.
The said E-Challans are uploaded on the VAHAN Portal and served upon the registered owners of the motor vehicles, giving them an option to pay the amount of penalty mentioned in the E-Challan through online mode. Once the E-Challans are uploaded and SMS are sent to the owners in their registered mobile number, all services mentioned are stopped till the penalty is paid.
It was pointed out that the E-Challans are not forwarded to the concerned courts deliberately in many cases, and the owners have no option or alternative but to pay the penalty in order to avail themselves of the services referred to above without there being any adjudication or summary trial by a court of competent jurisdiction.
The petitioner further stated that some provisions of the Central Motor Vehicles (Eleventh Amendment) Rules, 2020 (hereafter referred to as the 2020 Rules) and Central Motor Vehicles (Seventeenth Amendment) Rules, 2021 (hereinafter referred to as the 2021 Rules) permit the state to impose and recover the penalty even without the court’s order. The said provisions of the Amendment Rules are being challenged in the present PIL.
The bench directed the respondents in the PIL to respond within two weeks. The matter is listed for hearing next on September 24, 2024.
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