Treat plea as per law to waive e-challans against Covid warriors: Delhi HC

Plea said that all the e-challans had been issued when all the traffic signals were not functioning or were put on auto blinking mode

Delhi High Court on Monday disposed of a PIL seeking directions to Traffic Police to waive e-challans issued against coronavirus warriors, including practicing doctors during the first two phases of lockdown, with a direction to authorities concerned to treat the plea as representation and decide on it in accordance with the law.

A division bench of Justice DN Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan, while disposing of the plea, directed Delhi Traffic Police to consider the petition as per rule and law.

The PIL, filed by Indian Medical Association (Dwarka) through advocate Shashank Deo Sudhi, sought directions to the respondents for immediately waiving off the penalties imposed in respect of the various alleged traffic violations upon several practicing doctors including other coronavirus warriors like health workers, police, defence personnel, bank employees, etc.

The plea said that these people were on essential duties during the lockdown even as traffic routes were blocked, red lights were not functioning and all purported challans were issued by technical gadgets without any specific information fed with respect to the diversions.

It said that all the e-challans had been issued when all the traffic signals were not functioning or were put on auto blinking mode and the alleged traffic violations are without any justified ground and reason.

"The coronavirus pandemic has thrown all the systems upside down with a lot of emergent guidelines for regulating the movement of people for containing the spread of the coronavirus," the plea said.

"The people doing essential duties cannot be imposed with an e-challans for imaginative violation of traffic rules. Moreover, the traffic lights were programmed to be non-functional with specific signal colour either red or yellow or green or no signals during the lockdown period when several e-challans have been made," the plea said.

"Under the circumstances, it is completely illegal to impose a penalty without any offence on members of petitioner's organization and health care workers including other corona warriors," it added.