Traffic police can’t force people to pay fines on the spot: Telangana HC

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Tuesday, January 20, said the police cannot stop citizens on the road and force them to pay traffic fines, days after Chief Minister Revanth Reddy suggested that traffic fines be automatically debited from the bank accounts of the violators.

Hearing two writ petitions filed by V Raghavendra Chary, a resident of Secunderabad, challenging the methods used by Hyderabad Traffic Police to enforce rules, the single judge bench of Justice NV Shravan Kumar said that the police should not stop motorists or resort to strong-arm tactics, like taking away vehicle keys, to make people pay pending traffic fines on the spot.

The High Court noted that citizens can pay the fines as per their choice, and any action by the police must follow legal due processes, such as issuing official court notices.

The petitioner had moved the High Court in November last year, challenging the Rs 1,235 fine (Rs 1,200 fine and Rs 35 user charges) he was handed for triple riding.

His counsel had argued that the challan was legally invalid as it did not mention the violated legal provision, which is mandatory under Rules 167 and 167-A of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989.

He had stated that under Section 128, read with Section 177 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, the penalty prescribed for triple riding ranged between Rs 100 and Rs 300.

He also said that the authorities could not rely on the 2019 amendments of the Act, as it was not adopted by Telangana.

In response, the government’s counsel argued that the offences under the Motor Vehicles Act are compoundable and that the state has the power to specify the fine amounts.

The government had referred to the government order (GO) no. 54 (2006) and GO no. 108 (2011) issued in the interest of road safety, and said that the case at hand fell under the category of dangerous driving, attracting a fine of Rs 1,000 under Section 184.

The High Court, during the November hearing, had directed the police to make sure that citizens are informed which law they have violated when issued a fine. It also asked the e-challan portal to be upgraded so that citizens can view the legal provisions under which they are fined.

In the current hearing, the petitioner has mentioned that he was handed three traffic challans based solely on photographs of his vehicle taken by the traffic police.

He argued that only government-approved and certified surveillance cameras should be used for imposing fines, rather than the police using their personal mobile phones, hand cameras and other non-certified devices.

The petitioner has also challenged the legality of GO no. 108, which allows police to stop vehicles and settle penalties, saying that it allows police to exercise powers that lie with the judiciary.

CM mooted on-spot fine collection

On January 12, the Telangana Chief Minister asked the traffic police to link vehicles to the bank accounts of the owners at the time of the registration of vehicles, so that whenever a challan is issued, the money can be deducted from the bank accounts.

He said the auto-debit system should replace the present manual collection of fines.