My Indian traffic court experience: Why it was worth a visit

Delhi traffic police website also had no record of the challan. After much thought, I decided to bite the proverbial bullet and contest the fine.

BHPian handsofsteel recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I have been riding/driving for over 26 years now without a single traffic infringement/parking violation. I’m not the kind who wilfully jumps a signal or violates a stop line. However, we are all humans and an inadvertent violation is always possible.

I was stopped one day this last Dec on my Activa for not having a HSRP in the front (rear has it). For the record, it’s a 2014 manufactured scooter which does not have an arrangement for fitment of a plate of any kind. The only thing possible in the front is a sticker. Once stopped, the cops refused to listen to reason & also discovered that my PUC was out of date by 3 days (I normally get my PUC done for 6 months, on this occasion, wife got it for 3 months only and did not notice). I was asked to pay 20000/-. To cut a long story short, they asked me for a UPI payment of 20000/-, cash payment of 3000/-(there were 3 cops) or gave the option of going to court and taking a chance there. After a prolonged remonstration with them ending with the proverbial (one I’m not proud of) janta-hai-main-kaun-hoon, I was let off with a warning. This exchange and the unreasonable demands for a fine disturbed me a lot.

Last week I got an SMS challan for jumping a red light (on a Sunday afternoon at 1400h). The fine was 5000/-. There was no accompanying photograph or evidence and the only option given was to contest the fine. I was disturbed with this and contacted a few lawyer friends. All of them asked me to just pay and keep moving. Other friends asked me to ignore this and worry about it only at the time of sale of the vehicle.

However, the fastidious me was uncomfortable with this. Delhi traffic police website also had no record of the challan. After much thought, I decided to bite the proverbial bullet and contest the fine. I got an online summons from the traffic court at Saket regarding the date (no court number or time indicated).

I reached the court at 0945h on the designated date. Hardly anyone there was aware of the court number dealing with traffic cases. Asking a few lawyers, I was able to find the court in question and reach by 1000h. I was really surprised to see that the courts were more like the typical Hollywood style (nicely done up with tasteful panelling, furniture, glass separators and air conditioning). Access was through escalators. The entire premises were reminiscent of a first world country rather than the “Jolly LLB” type of courts that I was expecting.

The court clerk told me that the Hon judge would be available only in the afternoon at 1400h. Upon being requested, he too trawled through his database and was unable to come up with any supporting/incriminating photograph against my offence. When I asked him how do I proceed hereafter, considering that nobody had any evidence, he asked me to wait a while (approx. 2 weeks) for the databases to be updated and then approach the court again. We exchanged numbers and he promised to call me once the system was updated from the traffic police side. He was kind enough to tell me that I needn’t have bothered with a visit and could’ve logged in through Webex.

Being a working day, I came back to my office. I got a call from my lawyer friend and explained the situation. He advised me to not to go by the word of the clerk and instead attend the Webex in the afternoon and personally inform the judge of the circumstances (thereby honouring the summons).

In the afternoon, I attended the Webex wherein the judge was very considerate, directed someone off camera to send me the incriminating photo (on WhatsApp) and requested me to re-log in after receiving the photo. The photograph in question, hitherto untraceable, was received within 2 minutes. It showed me squarely in the middle of traffic, stuck behind and adjacent to DTC buses (blinded to the traffic lights by both the buses).

Upon logging in again, I was asked by the judge if I wanted to contest. I told her of my prior record and pleaded guilty. She waived off the fine, passed down an admonition and moved on to the next case.

What I realised after this exercise -

1. The traffic court judges are very considerate. Almost everybody was being let off with an admonition. One guy had 7 violations, he was asked to pay Rs. 1000/- against the fine of 20,000/- against one offence and given 6 admonitions.

2. The entire thing was very convenient and streamlined. It took me more time to type this post than I probably did in the court.

3. The next time I’m stopped by a cop for something that I consider unjustified, I’m definitely not going to argue with him and am going to ask him to send the matter to court.

Here's what BHPian GTX+ had to say on the matter:

When I recently exchanged my Honda with the Kia dealer, his colleague came back saying there were couple of challans pending, which I need to pay before the exchange formalities are completed.

Now, I had checked the parivahan site, UP traffic police & Delhi traffic police and there was no pending challan, which I showed them as well.

After some internal check, the dealer came back with the screenshot of the challan and that is when I realised that there are 2 separate websites for Delhi Traffic police and the 2 pending challans were issued by DP and they appeared in one of the 2 sites.

Yours may be a similar case.

P.S. Try searching here with the details which you may have

Here's what BHPian raptor_diwan had to say on the matter:

This seems clean and simple! I wish consumer complaints about products were addressed just as quick. Asking questions to vendors and customers upfront and resolving issues on a daily basis would be more efficient, rather than waiting 3-4 years for justice.

Here's what BHPian silverado had to say on the matter:

People speak rudely and more often than not argue with the cops.

Its always good to address them as sir and speak in polite manner. On most occasions when i have made a mistake, i have accepted my mistake and requested them to let me off this time with a warning. 7 out of 10 times this has worked for me.

Regarding going to court, Yes if you know you are on the right side and have some kind of evidence to prove it, its worth going to courts.

Here's what BHPian URWELCOME had to say on the matter:

Since the topic of court and traffic fine came up...I would like to share my experience of paying fine in the court. This was in 1999 or 1998 in Mysore.. when I was a student.

I didn't had my vehicle insurance and was caught during routine traffic police checks.

I did not have money (300 rs) and the police promptly took my licence and asked to pay fine in court and come to police station and collect your licence.

Since there was only one court I went the next day, there were few traffic offence cases like mine and most of the cases were related to a recent raids done by police on lodges running prostitution. I was made to stand along with them and when my name was called hesitantly went bowed to the judged and accepted 300 rs fine.

The entire time in court I was so worried, hoping no known person would see me.

Additionally I paid 30-50 for the person who called my name and instructed me to bow to the judge...another 50/ for the person who gave the receipt.

Finally got my license back and ended up paying more than the fine amount.

Here's what BHPian Annarocks had to say on the matter:

My friend, you must be really lucky! You are the Chosen One. I've had a few experiences with these folks, and each encounter ends with me cursing them in my mind for hours afterward. It's just one of those things us regular folks have to deal with, especially when we are rushing to work or out with the family.

A few years back, I got pulled over by the traffic cops. They were hiding out in their usual spot, waiting to pounce on unsuspecting drivers, spots where they are most likely to pick up speed beyond the prescribed limit. But that wasn't why they stopped me. It was because a part of my brand-new car's temporary registration sticker at the front had torn off. The sticker at the rear was alright. It was only the third day with my new car, and I was still waiting on the official number from the dealer which was expected that day. While starting the drive that day, I did not think much about it, perhaps due to the excitement of driving the new car!

They dragged me over to their mobile court van parked under a tree. The judge there was no less than a drama queen on TV, yelling at everyone like they're in a courtroom showdown. I tried to explain, but all I got was a warning that I could end up behind bars for six months. So, I bit my tongue and paid the fine, not wanting to argue with Captain Power Trip any longer. My helpful SA from the dealer arrived at the mobile court with the number plate, but I had paid the fine by then.

Funny thing is, years later during my passport renewal, I got a police verification call saying that the fine was unpaid and the passport verification will be on hold till it is clear. This event happened 13 years ago. I got passport renewed twice after this incident. Even the jurisdiction of the court got changed in between those years . So finding the fine paid receipt was another challenge. I again remembered those officials' family members from the other day. I did not want to pay these guys again. I might sound stupid to some but I spent extra money just to get the old payment proof from the court, than what I would have spent had I repaid it. That now makes me a part of the first group in the POLL given above. It taught me a valuable lesson though – always keep receipts from these guys, save them like a lottery ticket that you have won. I won't even get into the other examples for now as I remembered the Judge's face now and my BP has spiked! I am going to do my anulom vilom now.

But I must say that in all these years of driving in Kerala, I have not encountered a single incident of cops asking for unofficial settlements of the fine whereas I had recent experiences of these in Mumbai and Uttarakhand.

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