Kerala High Court seeks response from RTO, State on plea challenging overspeed challans issued beyond statutory time limit

The Kerala High Court Friday sought the responses of the State government, Regional Transport Officer (RTO) and Transport Commissioner on a plea challenging two speeding challans issued to him almost six months after the incident.

The matter was admitted today by Justice CS Dias.

The petitioner, one Anil Kumar R, received two e-challans via SMS on March 5, 2023 for speed violations on September 28, 2022 on the National Highway (NH) between Coimbatore and Ernakulam.

His writ petition claimed that the challans issued to him were coated with discrepancies that were in violation of Central Motor Vehicle Rules (CMVR) as according to the rules, a notice of offence must be issued within 15 days of its occurrence.

The plea further highlighted that the e-challans did not comply with rule 167A(6)(v) of the CMVR which provides that the challan must be accompanied with certificate under Section 65B(4) of the Indian Evidence Act.

The petitioner raised these issues with relevant authorities, emphasizing the delayed notices and also insufficient signages and safety measures on the NH stretch.

In response, the RTO (Enforcement) admitted the delay in issuing notices due to software updates but shifted the responsibility for road safety markings and signages to National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

Hence, the plea sought directions to the RTO to quash the e-challans and to other respondents to strictly implement provisions of CMVR, especially the ones in rule 167A with respect to electronic enforcement.

Advocates Rajesh Vijayendran, Sidhiqul Akbar KA and Asok Chacko Thomas appeared for the petitioner.