Govt gets notice over plea against ‘discrepancies’ in e-challan system

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Friday issued notices to the provincial government and others on a petition challenging the “flawed” procedure and “excessive” amounts prescribed in the new e-challan system.

Filing the petition with the SHC, Jamaat-e-Islami Karachi Emir Monem Zafar Khan and other party leaders claimed that vehicle owners are challaned despite not actually having violated the law, and are paying the price for the flawed system of motor registration in the city. They also mentioned the “lack” of infrastructure and “wrongful” diversion of traffic by police because of under construction projects. The petition also demanded parity in fines on a par with other cities.

They said that without a transparent and fair mechanism for verifying actual vehicle owners, the e-challan system is “unfair” and “against the norms of justice”. They also said the impugned notification is “intolerable”, as the penalties are “disproportionate” to the traffic violation and when compared to the income of ordinary citizens.

They termed the impugned notification “illegal”, claiming that it is discriminatory against the residents of Karachi as compared to the residents of other cities of the country. They said that over 30,000 residents have been fined within the past week, adding that for the same traffic violation, residents of Karachi are fined Rs5,000, whereas in other parts of the country, the fine is only Rs200. They sought reforms in the e-challan system, and bringing fines in line with other cities.

They requested the court to suspend the operation, implementation and enforcement of the impugned notification, and the e-challans, penalties and proceedings initiated against the residents of Sindh. They also requested restraining the government from issuing, processing and recovering any penalty until the final disposal of the petition.

They also sought the declaration that the implementation of the AI-based e-challan system by the government “without adequate infrastructure and ownership verification safeguards” is “illegal, arbitrary and unconstitutional”.

After the preliminary hearing of the petition, an SHC division bench headed by Justice Mohammad Iqbal Kalhoro issued notices to the provincial government, the traffic police chief and others, telling them to file their comments on the next date of hearing.