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As Transport Dept, police flout HC order
BHUBANESWAR: Even though the Transport Department, Odisha Police and highway patrol often issue a large of e-challans to the traffic rule violators, the inordinate delay in submission of Vehicle Check Reports (VCRs) to the courts for prosecution, is leading to the dropping of lakhs of e-challans.
In the last six years a whopping 5.5 lakh e-challans have been dropped till 2019, due to ‘barred by limitation.’ If the e-challans issued up to 2022 are taken into account the figures would be much higher.
In the process, the State exchequer is losing revenue worth crores, which would come from the fines collected. Besides, the habitual traffic rule violators are going unpunished. This is encouraging them to commit similar offences in future without any fear of the law.
Earlier, the Orissa High Court had ordered that if a person does not pay the fine in the stipulated time; the VCR should be forwarded to court within 15days for prosecution.
But neither the Transport Department, nor the Odisha Police or the highway patrol which are issuing e-challans for traffic violations are following the court orders.
“If the aforesaid enforcement agencies do not have the requisite infrastructure and human resources, what is the meaning of issuing e-challans? Instead, the traffic rules violators should be sensitised or asked to submit an undertaking and allowed to go., said road safety expert and lawyer Subrat Kumar Nanda.
‘Be it the Transport or police they are uploading the e-challans on the national portals to please the Supreme Court Road Safety Committee which is repeatedly stressing in reducing road mishaps and fatalities in the States. But the reality at ground-level is different. If all the rule violators had been punished and paid fines, they would have become disciplined road users and the road mishaps would have declined. But unfortunately, it is not the case,” said Nanda.
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