Courts not equipped to punish those who repeat offence

Speaking to Millennium Post, Joint Commissioner, Traffic Police, Anil Shukla said that more cases would come up if police begins to start implementation on CCTV challans, at each and every junction, which would work 24x7 (day and night). ‘Today 15% challans reach the court and rest are done on the spot and despite this, we see so many pending cases, which makes both offenders and courts wait for the lok adalats to settle the issue and dispose off the cases. Suppose, if CCTV challan gets started at each and every junction then it is not easy to imagine how many cases would appear in the forefront. Our courts are not equipped enough,’ said Shukla, adding that in Lok Adalat hearings, cases are settled by paying a fine of Rs 10 or Rs 20 and for a person who can afford a Rs 45-lakh car, how does a fine of Rs 10 matter?

He gave example and said that there are some traffic junctions, where 1.3 lakh violations were detected in a month and a man was challaned 144 times in a month, but there is no law for his repeated violation. According to data, violation of rules is rampant in Delhi, and over-speeding is a common offence. This year, more than 3 lakh motorists have been challaned for jumping signals and 45,158 for speeding. Also, more than 14,000 cases of drunken driving have been detected.

The senior officer of the department says existing laws are not strong enough to deter traffic violations and the fine for many serious offences is a meagre Rs 100. 

‘Offenders get more confidant, as there is no law for repeated violation. For courts, traffic violations are less important issues than murder cases, however, causalities occur when fatal accidents take place as well. Instead of punishing violators, magistrates  pull them up and ask various questions,’ said Joint CP.

Sunita Narain, director general of Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), who is also concerned about road safety and has held workshops on the issue said she was not aware about the judiciary’s involvement. ‘I, myself, have experienced the agony and pain of a road accident and I am very much concerned about road safety. However, I was not aware that judiciary is also responsible for this. We will write and try to bring up this issue infront of the judges,’ said Narain.

Talking on Section 304 A of the IPC, which is a bailable offence and always comes into light in many infamous accidents (like the BMW case in 2008 and very recently in the untimely death of cabinet minister Gopinath Munde) Shukla said, this law should be changed. 

‘A person who robs someone spends just a few days in prison during trial and if he is held guilty then he is awarded a maximum of 10 years’ imprisonment. But a person who intentionally or unintentionally kills someone gets a bail, instead of spending even a few hours behind bars,’ said Anil Shukla.