Gauhati High Court To Dispur: Crack Down On Overloaded & Illegal Vehicles

GUWAHATI: The Gauhati High Court has asked the Assam Government to work out a mechanism to crack down on vehicles either illegally transporting materials or transporting materials by overloading the vehicles.

Gauhati High Court has set July deadline for the State Government to launch its crack down on erring vehicles plying mostly national highways passing through Assam by putting a free, fair and legal mechanism in place.

Disposing two PILs filed before the High Court on the issue, a division bench comprising Chief Justice AS Bopanna and Justice Arup Kumar Goswami recently expressed serious concern over the helpless situation of the departments concerned of the State Government to regulate plying of overloaded vehicles and vehicles carrying illegal materials on different highways particularly the NH-206 connecting Assam and Mizoram.

In a PIL (63/2018), the Silchar Truck Owners Association Society mentioned the menace of overloaded vehicles and vehicles carrying illegal goods with specific reference to NH-306 which is a highway measuring 90 km connecting Assam and Mizoram. The PIL has mentioned that the weighbridge situated at Lailapur (Dholai) to check weight of the loaded trucks is not operational and thus no checking is being carried out on the vehicles being overloaded or transporting any material which is not permitted to be transported.

In another PIL (53/2017), Taher Ahmed Choudhury, a resident of Christian Bast in Guwahati made certain averments with regard to the citizens being subjected to harassment on NH 40 and 44 between Hailakandi and Guwahati due to the non-implementation of various provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. Choudhury said his representation submitted to the State Chief Secretary on the same issue on September 11, 2017 was not given due attention.

In an additional affidavit filed before the High Court in response to the PIL (63/2018), the District Transport Officer, Guwahati, admitted non-operation of weighbridge and non-existence of check point on NH-306. The DTO has also expressed helplessness in implementing certain provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 and the Assam Motor Vehicles Rules, 2003 along the stretch of NH-306.

“From the said affidavit, it is clear that the provisions of law are not being implemented and the transport operators are violating law with impunity,” the division bench in its recent judgment observed.

Taking note of the Supreme Court that plying of overloaded vehicles is not permissible and strict enforcement of the provisions of law is required, the Gauhati High Court has asked the State Chief Secretary to devise methods of securing coordination of different departments and work out a mechanism to prevent plying of overloaded vehicles and vehicles carrying illegal materials.

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