Driving licences: India

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This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content.

Follow proper steps before suspending licence: HC

The Times of India, May 13 2016

Abhinav Garg  In their zeal to book violators, the traffic police and the transport department can't bypass the due process of law, the Delhi high court said.

A valid showcause notice, opportunity of fair hearing and a reasoned order suspending the driving licence are norms that must be followed in every case, Justice J R Midha directed in a judgment.

“This court hopes Delhi Police and transport department of Delhi government shall follow the due process of law in implementing directions of the Supreme Court committee on road safety ,“ Justice Midha said while hearing the plea of a man whose licence was suspended by the department without giving any particulars or being given a chance to explain his stand.

The police and the department cited the November 17, 2015 directions passed by a Supreme Court appointed committee on road safety to justify their drive against those who break traffic rules. In its order, the committee had directed that in case of traffic violations, the police should take into possession the driving licence of the violator and forward it to the transport department who would suspend it for a minimum of three months.

Appearing for the petitioner Ashish Gosain, advocates Abhijat and Punit Mittal argued that the police first took a fine to compound the offence. Later, the transport department issued a vague showcause notice seeking an explanation why Gosain's license shouldn't be suspended, without giving particulars of the offence, date of challan or any other detail.When he sought details, the department promptly suspended his licence, the lawyers pointed out.

While agreeing with the police and transport authorities that India has a dubious distinction of having the highest number of road accidents, the court backed the call for stringent measures by the SC panel.“This court agrees with the SC committee that unless strong and urgent measures are taken to deal with speeding, drunk driving, red light jumping, use of mobile phones while driving and overloading, number of accidents and fatalities will remain high.“

However, Justice Midha was quick to add that due process must be followed even in such cases. It sent the case back to the transport department to grant Gosain a hearing and a chance to defend suspension of his licence.