In response to information regarding illegal registration of vehicles and record manipulation, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has expressed “serious displeasure.”.
According to the Bench of Chief Justice Ravi Shanker Jha and Justice Arun Palli, the authorities have information about 1,300 illegally registered vehicles that are plying not just in Punjab but in other parts of the country as well, according to the petition filed in public interest. However, no action was taken.
According to the Bench: “It is also stated that no registrations have been cancelled, no dealers or other persons involved have been prosecuted or any action has been taken by authorities when information regarding illegal registration and manipulation of records is available with a committee. We are therefore deeply dissatisfied with this decision”.
According to the Bench’s order, petitioner Simranjit Singh filed an application, submitting several documents to indicate ongoing fraud in the registration of vehicles and their possible use for crimes. Despite the extension of time, the state failed to reply. Thus, law and order was seriously threatened by the situation.
A committee of four officials of the Punjab Transport Department had been constituted by the Punjab Transport Commissioner to investigate the matter, the Bench noted.
After nearly two years, no tangible progress had been documented, according to the Bench. To take further action, the committee called the applicant-petitioner just a few days before the hearing to share the necessary details, inputs, and information available to him.
The Bench continued, “All that the authorities claim credit for is that the clerk has been suspended and action has been taken against another departmental officer. According to our preliminary impression, the authorities are acting insensitively in the way they have handled the matter thus far.
As the Bench stated before parting, the state’s purported actions did not satisfy the court’s judicial conscience. Further, the state’s laxity or failure to act against the illegal registration did not justify its laxity or fault.
Taking into account the situation, the state counsel proposed the authorities reconstitute the committee to investigate the matter, including specialized investigators from the police administration and other departments, including Vigilance, Cyber Crime, and Information Technology. On September 14, a further hearing will take place in the case.