A resident of Chakwal district spent over PKR 35,000 challenging a traffic violation ticket worth PKR 300 issued to him by the National Highway and Motorway Police for using duplicate number plates on his vehicle.
The petitioner, Mohammed Noman Awan, had to hire a lawyer, bear his travel expenses, and deposit court fees for filing a writ petition against the NHMP. In the petition, he requested the Islamabad High Court to withdraw his ticket withdrawn.
Awan challenged the NHMP act because there were no specific violations in the Motorway Ordinance under which plying vehicles on Motorway with duplicate number plates was illegal.
An official of the NHMP on the 27th of February, 2021, had stopped Noman’s vehicle when he entered the M2-Motorway from Balkasar Interchange.
Upon questioning, Noman was told by the Motorway official he was not using a specified number plate on his vehicle. However, the police officer could not provide the same law under which plying vehicles on the Motorway with such number plates was an offense.
Speaking to a source, the counsel for the petitioner, Advocate Saad Bin Safdar, said it was not a matter of PKR 300. It involved a significant question of law, and the applicant had sought the IHC’s intervention for its solution.
Bin Safdar added, there is no such provision in the National Highway and Safety Ordinance 2000 that monitors traffic on the Motorway and deals with violations in that law. There is no mention of such limitations as the use of duplicate number plates.
After hearing the petitioner, Justice Babar Sattar has issued notices to the Inspector General of the NHMP to submit a detailed reply by the 29th of April.
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