Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Tuesday ruled that police cannot stop motorists on roads and compel them to pay traffic fines, days after Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy proposed an auto-debit system for traffic penalties.
The observation came while hearing two writ petitions filed by Secunderabad resident V. Raghavendra Chary, who challenged the manner in which the Hyderabad Traffic Police enforce traffic rules. Justice N.V. Shravan Kumar, sitting as a single judge, said police should not detain motorists or use coercive measures such as seizing vehicle keys to recover pending fines on the spot.
The court said citizens are entitled to pay fines at their discretion and that enforcement must follow due legal process, including the issuance of proper court notices.
Chary had approached the High Court in November last year after being fined Rs 1,235 — comprising a Rs 1,200 penalty and Rs 35 as user charges — for triple riding. His counsel argued that the challan was invalid as it did not specify the violated legal provision, which is mandatory under Rules 167 and 167-A of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989.
The petitioner also contended that under Section 128 read with Section 177 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, the penalty for triple riding ranges between Rs 100 and Rs 300. He further argued that the 2019 amendments to the Act could not be applied as they had not been adopted by Telangana.
Opposing the plea, the state government said offences under the Motor Vehicles Act are compoundable and that states have the authority to fix penalty amounts. The government cited GO 54 (2006) and GO 108 (2011), issued in the interest of road safety, and claimed the offence amounted to dangerous driving under Section 184, attracting a Rs 1,000 fine.
During an earlier hearing in November, the High Court had directed police to clearly inform citizens about the specific law violated while issuing challans and asked authorities to upgrade the e-challan portal to display the relevant legal provisions.
In the latest hearing, the petitioner said he was issued three challans based solely on photographs taken by traffic police. He argued that fines should be imposed only using government-approved and certified surveillance cameras, not images captured through personal mobile phones or non-certified devices.
He also challenged the validity of GO 108, arguing that it empowers police to exercise functions that fall within the judiciary’s domain.
On January 12, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy had directed traffic police to link vehicle registrations with owners’ bank accounts, proposing an automatic deduction of fines whenever a challan is issued, replacing the existing manual collection system.
