Punjab clears 4.34 lakh backlog of vehicle registration certificates, driving licences; High Court disposes of PIL

The Punjab and Haryana High Court records state’s affidavit that printing is complete and only 6,176 cards remain to be dispatched within 15 days.

High Court disposes of PIL on RCs and DLs backlog after Punjab reports clearing the massive pending list of 4.34 lakh documents. (File)

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday disposed of a public interest litigation that flagged delays in issuing registration certificates (RCs) and driving licences (DLs) to vehicle owners in Punjab, after the state informed the court that it had cleared a massive backlog created earlier this year.

The matter came up before the Division Bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sanjiv Berry. Appearing for Punjab, counsel Salil Sabhlok submitted a status report stating that the backlog was triggered by the “sudden exit” of the state’s earlier empanelled vendor responsible for printing RCs and DLs. The department, he said, activated its fallback plan to begin in-house printing and subsequently awarded the work to two National Informatics Centre Services Inc (NICSI)-empanelled Government of India vendors.

According to the affidavit, 4.34 lakh registration certificates and driving licences were pending when the situation arose. Sabhlok told the bench that printing of all pending cards had been completed and that 4,27,824 RCs and DLs had already been dispatched to people as of October 31. The remaining 6,176 cards were in the process of being dispatched and would reach vehicle owners within 15 days, he said.

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The bench asked whether the petitioner had received his document, to which the petitioner confirmed that it had been delivered after the first hearing.

Recording the state’s affidavit, the court said the grievance raised in the PIL “does not survive anymore”. Disposing of the petition, the bench directed the Punjab Transport Commissioner to ensure the dispatch and delivery of the remaining 6,176 RCs and DLs within the next 15 days.

This PIL was filed in April by Neha Sharma, who complained about the delay in getting her RC. The court was told how the RCs had been pending for several months. While Sharma received her RC after the first date of hearing, the Punjab government continued to seek time to file its affidavit.

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