SHC issues notices to govt, traffic officials on plea against e-challan system

The Sindh High Court on Tuesday issued notices to the chief secretary, traffic DIG and others on a petition against the imposition of heavy traffic violation fines through e-challans in Karachi.

Petitioner Syed Johar Abbas submitted that e-challan penalties imposed by the traffic authorities are heavy and unjustified and they cannot be imposed on the basis of personal desire and officials discretion.

The petitioner’s counsel contended that fine slabs are very much higher than those in other cities of the country and such unjust imposition is misuse of authority and contrary to law, equity and justice. He said Sindh government approved the minimum salary of workers at Rs40,000 a month, and in this meager salary the worker has to manage his necessary expenses. He said the traffic challan for a motorbike violation of traffic signal is Rs5,000, which will be 12.5 percent of Karachi salaried class worker as compared to Rs200 imposed on a worker committing a traffic rule violation in Lahore, which is 0.5 percent of his income. He said such an unjust act is against the principles of equity and justice.

The counsel submitted that many traffic signals were not in a working condition on roads in different areas of the city, including Hasan Square, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Saddar, Nazimabad, Garden and old city areas but e-challans are being sent to vehicle owners through the cameras installed by the traffic police. He said many roads are under development or broken and without proper infrastructure and lanes and in such circumstances the imposition of heavy fines is unjust and uncalled for.

The counsel further said that speed limit boards are not visible on many roads and cameras used for the e-challan do not provide conclusive proof of a violation. He also questioned discrimination in picking only Karachi for e-challan while this system was not being enforced in other cities of the province like Hyderabad, Sukkur and Larkana.

The court was requested to suspend the operation of e-challan and fine recovery proceedings, direct the government to fix justified fines as are charged in other cities of the country, keeping in view the minimum wages of workers. The counsel also sought a comprehensive report with regard to the collection of funds through e-challan and their utilization.

A division bench, headed by Justice Mohammad Iqbal Kalhoro, after the preliminary hearing of the petition, issued notices to the chief secretary, DIG traffic, excise department and others and called their comments on the next date of hearing.