Delhi puts motor vehicle rule amendments on hold after lawyers’ strike

Delhi paused the motor vehicle rule changes after lawyers protested shifting challan adjudication powers from judicial magistrates to government officers.

Two days after lawyers across Delhi’s district courts held a strike to protest amendments to the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, which they claimed could alter the traffic challan adjudication process, the Delhi government has put its implementation on hold.

New Delhi Bar Association (NDBA) members stage a protest march at India Gate Circle against amended traffic challan rules under Rule 167 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, in New Delhi on Monday. (ANI Video Grab) (ANI Video Grab)

“The representation is being sent to the transportation department for examination and will also be brought to the notice of the LG and CM. Till then, the transport department is being directed to put on hold the implementation of the notification (amendments),” said transport minister Pankaj Kumar Singh.

Following the development, the coordination committee of all District Courts Bar Associations of Delhi has called off the proposed strike and protest march to the LG’s house on Thursday. “Accordingly, the call for abstention from work and the proposed protest march on stands suspended,” the communication signed by NDBA secretary Tarun Rana said.

Amendments to Rule 167 of the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, which came into effect on January 20 this year, replaced the earlier challan disposal framework with a time-bound “pay or contest” mechanism.

Under amended Rule 167(5), a person issued a challan must either pay it or contest it through the prescribed portal, along with documentary evidence, before an authority specified by the state government within 45 days. If the challan is not contested within that period, it is deemed to have been accepted under Rule 167(6).