Overloaded Vehicles: Meghalaya High Court Calls For CCTV Monitoring Of Weighbridges To Prevent Corrupt Practices

"At any rate, the mere fact that there may be 28 weighbridges and six weigh-pads may not count for anything unless regular and honest checking is undertaken. The several points where the weighbridges and weigh-pads are installed should be monitored by CCTV so that the weights indicated cannot be tampered with or overweight goods vehicles allowed to pass on extraneous considerations", Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice B. Bhattacharjee observed.

The directions came to passed in a PIL filed by Tennydard M. Marak who had raised concerns over the unchecked overloading of goods vehicles, including those carrying minerals, on the roads of Meghalaya. In his PIL the petitioner had also drawn the court's attention to the potential hazards posed by overweight vehicles and the need for a robust system to monitor and prevent such violations.

During the course of hearing, the bench perused a report filed by the State's Transport Department which indicated the presence of 28 operational weighbridges at checkpoints designated by the government. The report further highlighted that these weighbridges play a crucial role in ensuring that vehicles adhere to permissible weight limits and out of the 28 weighbridges, 24 are under the jurisdiction of the Transport Department, while four are managed by the Mining and Geology Department.

The bench further noted that the Transport Department has initiated installation of six weigh-pads.

While asking the Sate to monitor these weighbridges and weigh-pads using CCTV cameras, the court emphasised the importance of not only checking the weights of vehicles carrying minerals but also investigating the origin and source of these minerals.

Hoping that adequate steps will now be taken to check the menace, the Court closed the petition.

Case Title: Tennydard M. Marak vs State of Meghalaya & ors

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Meg) 32

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