mobile octogenarian

e-challan

traffic violations

Motor Vehicles Act, 1988

Royal Enfield

Instead of resolving my matter, they redirected me... they’ve said in the notice that my father would be charged under the MVA if we fail to pay up — Subhash Jadhav, Ganesh Jadhav’s son

Sending erroneous e-challans took on ridiculous proportions, when a barely, who does not even have any vehicle to his name, was served up the infamous notice fining him Rs 1,700.A resident of Mangalwar Peth, 80-year-old Ganpat Jadhav, has serious mobility and speech issues thanks to his age. For him to be riding a bike is unimaginable. Yet, on September 5, his family received annaming him for four counts of— three for not wearing helmet and one for halting on a zebra crossing.The note threatened that if the fine was not paid up, the traffic department will take action against Jadhav as prescribed under the, and the accused would then have to make rounds of the courts.Shaken by this prospect of trouble at their doorstep, Jadhav’s family was galvanised into action, determined to keep the issue out of the old man’s hearing. “I don’t remember my father touching any vehicle in the past 20 years. They may be sending false e-challans, but such notices can be a traumatic experience for a common man, getting blamed for something he’s not done,” Jadhav’s son Subhash Jadhav told Mirror, adding, “In our family, only my son rides abike. We own no other vehicle and the bike is registered in my son’s name. I took up the issue with Samarth traffic division. Instead of resolving my matter, they redirected me to the commissioner’s office, from where they sent me back to the same police station. They’ve clearly stated in the notice that my father would be charged under the MVA if we fail to pay up.”While Subhash is already doing the run-around, cops have not bothered to enlighten him that the traffic division’s central office has moved to a new address. When Mirror moved the deputy commissioner of police (traffic), Pankaj Deshmukh, he defended, “We’ve explicitly mentioned in the notice that if anybody is wrongly issued the challan, they can approach us to resolve the issue. We are also working on improving the system so that such instances do not recur.”