Loopholes In System Must Be Addressed: Gujarat High Court Slams Traffic Police, Transport Dept For Allowing Operations Of Over-Capacity Vehicles

The Gujarat High Court on Monday issued a stern rebuke to the traffic police and Transport Department for permitting illegal vehicles exceeding their capacity to operate on state and city roads.

The court condemned the authorities for prioritising personal gain and directed the state government to assign responsibility to officials in cases of major road accidents.

Justice Sandip Bhatt stated, “Such incidents have repeatedly come before this Court, whereby, the accident occurred due to use of such motor-vehicle and either Court has to fasten the liability on the Insurance Company or Court has to exonerate the Insurance Company, depending upon the facts of such cases, but, ultimately due to inaction or deficiency in taking proper action on the part of the State Authorities i.e. RTO, Police, more particularly, Traffic Police and also inaction on the part of proper execution at the hand of Home Department of the State who is the ultimate supervising authority in these matters.”“This creates such anarchy in the system and due to that, ultimately, either the Insurance Company has to suffer or claimants are not in a position to recover the amount of the compensation, though they get injured in such accidents. This is a very serious situation which requires immediate attention of the concerned Authorities,” Justice Bhatt added.

The case under consideration involved the approval of claims by insurance companies for passengers of over-capacity vehicles operating illegally. The court expressed frustration with the selective enforcement of laws by the police, traffic police, and the RTO, noting that common people are harassed while violators go unpunished.

The court recalled a previous instance where Deputy Commissioners of Police from Ahmedabad were present, and the need for systemic improvement was emphasized. Despite recent reports from the Police Department about efforts to improve rule enforcement, particularly for luxury buses, dumpers, school auto-rickshaws, school vans, jeeps, and other commercial vehicles, the court remained unconvinced.

The Court ordered detailed affidavits from the Secretary of the Home Department, the DGP office, and the commissioners of police and RTO, outlining past actions and future plans to address the issue satisfactorily.

“The affidavit shall be filed giving the details that in the case of a major default, the accountability of the concerned Officer of that particular area should be fixed for such repeated accidents and also, nonobservation of the Rules, more particularly, the Traffic Rules or such erring person who are plying the vehicles,” the Court stated.

“The loopholes and leakages in the system are required to be addressed properly, and thereby, required to be redressed accordingly,” the Court pointed.

The matter has been re-listed on 14.08.2024, for further consideration.

Case Title - United India Insurance Co. Ltd. Versus Kevalji Lumbaji Harijan(Dabhi) & Ors.

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