Raising doubts on the efficiency of Saral Haryana web portal, used for issuing electronic passes for inter-state movement between Delhi and Haryana, a Gurgaon resident on Tuesday filed an intervention application in the Delhi high court seeking directions to Haryana government to allow the inter-state movement of advocates on identity cards issued by bar associations.
The matter will be heard on Wednesday by a Delhi HC division bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Subramonium Prasad.
Following an undertaking given by the Haryana government on May 14 that e-passes for inter-state movement of all persons engaged in providing essential services, including medical professionals, will be issued within 30 minutes of the receipt of the application, the Delhi high court had disposed of a public interest litigation (PIL). Each e-pass will be valid for the entire duration of the lockdown and can be used for multiple visits, the state government told the HC.
The PIL had sought court directions to stop the Haryana government from restricting the inter-state movement of medical professionals.
The applicant, Govind Swaroop Chaturvedi, a lawyer who practices in Delhi said in his intervening application that he was residing in Gurugram and has his chamber at Patiala House in New Delhi where his files have been lying consequent to sudden lockdown announced on March 23. Chaturvedi said in his application that since he was being stopped from entering Delhi without a movement pass, he tried to apply for electronic movement pass on May 18 at www.saralharyana.gov.in. However, he could not succeed even after wasting more than one and a half hours.
“The website is not user-friendly. While uploading the identity card in pdf format from a laptop, the Saral Haryana website asks for uploading image files only. However, when the same was tried from a mobile phone, the website said that file size should be less than 500 KB,’’ the application reads.
{{/usCountry}}“The website is not user-friendly. While uploading the identity card in pdf format from a laptop, the Saral Haryana website asks for uploading image files only. However, when the same was tried from a mobile phone, the website said that file size should be less than 500 KB,’’ the application reads.
{{/usCountry}}It is submitted that when the applicant asked his colleagues in Gurugram, it came to the fore that they also could not apply. In their case, the website itself did not open, the application said. Chaturvedi said he had tried to apply for an e-pass in April also but faced similar problems and could not even submit the application. If the same is not going to facilitate the movement of the majority of the affected advocates, no purpose is going to be achieved by the statement of the Haryana government before the HC.
“Directions be given to the Haryana government to allow the vehicles of advocates in the national capital region (NCR) with stickers of bar associations of Delhi to enter the UT. This should be done instead of applying for an e-pass, which a cumbersome and difficult process requiring technical help. Additionally, valid identity cards of the advocates issued by bar associations could also be checked to allow entry,’’ the application said.
The applicant said as per the new norms announced for the fourth phase of the lockdown, even inter-state buses are going to be operated by the Haryana government.