Jagran correspondent, Agra. The state government has retreated after the Supreme Court's tough stance on abolishing 11 lakh traffic violation cases and challans in the state. The state government has told the Supreme Court that it will not withdraw cases in cases of violation of traffic rules like red light.
The government said it would also change the law under which such cases and fines had been collectively waived off across the state. This was encouraging violation of traffic rules. On the other hand, the Supreme Court is not satisfied with the reply of the state government.
The court said that it will examine the law made at the state level whether it is made contrary to the Central Motor Vehicles Act, 1988?
The bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice KV Vishwanathan of the Supreme Court was hearing on Thursday the petition of advocate KC Jain regarding road safety and traffic rules.
The objection raised in the petition was that the state government had collectively abolished 11 lakh cases of challan and punishment under the Motor Vehicles Act by making a law in the year 2023. Under the ambit of this law, more than one lakh e-challans from the year 2017 to 2021 were also waived.
The court had earlier on November 20 sought a reply from the government in this matter. The state government gave an affidavit on this and said that a meeting regarding this was held under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary on January 9, 2026. It was decided that by amending the law of the year 2023, some categories of crimes will be taken out of its scope.
These will include those cases of traffic violations in which there is a provision for punishment instead of fine. The Supreme Court has ordered the state government to amend the 2023 law as per the affidavit and implement it within six weeks.
Besides, the Supreme Court will also consider the constitutionality of this law of the state. The law made by the State Government was neither reserved for the assent of the President nor was it obtained.
Amicus curiae Gaurav Aggarwal expressed apprehension that the amendment made in the law by the state government will not practically solve the problem. The situation may remain the same.
In this situation, there will be no option left except declaring the Uttar Pradesh government's law unconstitutional. The state government considered the proposed amendment adequate. The next hearing in the case will be on April 9.
Lawsuits ended five times in 44 years by making laws
Senior advocate and road safety activist KC Jain had raised the question in the petition that ending the cases related to violation of traffic rules without taking any action is not contrary to the basic objective of road safety and traffic system?
Citing that the state has the highest number of deaths in road accidents in the country, he had raised questions on waiving challans and ending cases.
There was a demand to repeal the law made by the state government. From the year 1977 to 2023, five different laws were made, through which cases for violation of traffic rules were abolished in 44 years.
Closing the cases related to violation of traffic rules without hearing and decision is unfair to the citizens who followed the rules or paid the fine.
This order is a clear signal to the entire country that the laws made in the name of road safety should not be weakened for administrative convenience. Offenses in the Motor Vehicles Act are not just small challans, but they are directly linked to human life safety. -KC Jain Senior Advocate
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