Srinagar, May 7, KNT: A Special Mobile Magistrate Court in Srinagar has quashed multiple traffic e-challans issued against a Srinagar-based vehicle owner, holding that the challans were not issued in accordance with mandatory provisions of Rule 167A of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules (CMVR), 1989.
The judgment was passed by Special Mobile Magistrate (Traffic) Kashmir, Shahbir Ahmad Malik, in a case filed by Arsh Syed of Chanapora, Srinagar, against the Traffic Police City Srinagar. The court disposed of the challans on May 5 after examining the legality and procedure adopted in issuing them.
The petitioner had challenged five e-challans issued between January and March this year for alleged violations including disobedience of traffic signals and driving on footpaths or tracks in breach of rules.
According to the court record, the petitioner argued that the challans were arbitrary, vague, mechanically generated, and unsupported by proper evidence. He also questioned the legality of issuing electronic challans through photographs allegedly captured using mobile phones rather than officially authorized electronic enforcement devices.
Advocate Mudasir Shafi, appearing for the petitioner, argued that the impugned challans were issued in violation of Rule 167A of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules and lacked proper evidentiary backing.”
The court as per the news agency Kashmir News Trust observed that the prosecution failed to produce witnesses or sufficient evidence to substantiate the alleged violations despite being given opportunities to do so. The judgment noted that merely producing photographs of a vehicle without clearly establishing the offence did not satisfy the evidentiary threshold required under law.
In its detailed order, the court referred extensively to Rule 167A of the CMVR, which governs electronic monitoring and enforcement of traffic violations. The magistrate observed that e-challans can only be issued through officially authenticated electronic enforcement devices approved by the government and operated in accordance with prescribed legal standards.
The court also cited provisions requiring that each e-challan must contain mandatory information including clear photographic evidence, details of the offence, date, time, place of occurrence, and certification under the Indian Evidence Act regarding the electronic record.
Referring to Supreme Court directions in S. Rajaseekaran versus Union of India and others, the magistrate said electronic challans must be based only on footage generated through authorized enforcement devices and not through personal mobile phones or unofficial methods.
The judgment further observed that allowing challans through personal mobile phones could open the door to misuse, manipulation of evidence, and procedural irregularities.
After examining the material on record, the court held that the prosecution failed to establish that the impugned challans were issued through officially authenticated electronic enforcement devices as required under Rule 167A. The court consequently quashed all five challans issued against the petitioner.
The court also directed Traffic Police authorities to strictly comply with mandatory legal requirements while issuing future e-challans and ensure that challans are generated only through officially authenticated electronic enforcement systems for offences specifically covered under Rule 167A. [KNT]
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