Cops summon activist for pointing out error in challan
When contacted, an official from the Sathyamangalam station said they were only following the procedure, as the complaint has been forwarded by their higher officials.
The bike with different number plate
CHENNAI: A social worker in Chennai, who tried to help a family to rectify a clerical error that led to the issuance of a traffic challan, has now been summoned to a police station in Villupuram to correct what clearly appears to be a mistake on the part of the police.
On March 18, M Sruthi (31) of Nanganallur received an e-challan from the Villupuram traffic police for not wearing a helmet. But her two-wheeler has not been in use for about two years now.
“While the challan mentions the registration number of our vehicle (TN 10 AP 4133), the number in the photograph in the challan is clearly visible as TN 10 AP 4138, which shows it was a clerical error on the authorities' part,” her father Murali told DT Next.
He registered a complaint detailing the error in the Parivahan website, but the issue was kept pending for months. He then sought the help of his friend and social activist VS Jayaraman of T Nagar who petitioned the Prime Minister's Office public grievance portal in the third week of August, which was forwarded to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister's special cell.
Jayaraman said he received a call from the Sathayamangalam police station, asking him to come over for rectification of the error. Both Jayaraman and Murali expressed their inability to travel to Villupuram and noted that the error made by the official there should be corrected from their side. But on September 13, a person claiming to be from Sathyamangalam police station came to Jayaraman’s residence to serve summons, which he refused to accept.
“It is a clear case of an error committed by the SI. Instead of cancelling the erroneous e-challan, why should they serve summons on the person who only pointed out the error and requested for corrective action? Does it not amount to harassment? Does it not amount to dissuading me from doing such work in future,” Jayaraman told DT Next.
When contacted, an official from the Sathyamangalam station said they were only following the procedure, as the complaint has been forwarded by their higher officials.
