Islamabad High Court has prevented the authorities from registering a case against any citizen driving without a license on the first violation, having first instructed that only one warning and fine was initially issued.
Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfaraz Dogar heard a petition about citizen Muhammad Abi Hassan on Thursday. Chief Traffic Officer (CTO) Islamabad Captain (Retd) Hamza Humayun attended the hearing personally after being called by court.
The petitioner took the opinion that the penalty for driving without a license can be no more than a fine and that the police have no authority to make arrests or confiscate the vehicle.
It came after CTO had set a deadline for the citizens of Islamabad when they were to get a driver’s license. Once the deadline had passed, police declared it would register cases against those who were driving without a license and arresting them. According to the petition, this step towards the Constitution and the law.
During the hearing, Chief Justice noted that if a person is driving a vehicle without a license and an accident occurs, he can be charged with murder, but under normal circumstances it is only a fine. He added that Pakistan has now been around for more than 70 years, citizens must now know that it is necessary to have a license for driving.
Chief Justice also said that if a citizen has a license but does not have a paper copy, he should show his copy. The court also suggested introducing a digital system for verification of licenses such as the CNIC verification function on the Nadra app.
CTO Islamabad told the court that so far no case has been registered against any citizen for running without a license, while security functions are added to the license to prevent manipulation. He said the traffic police are working to digitize the license system by linking it to Nadra.
Chief Justice noted that registration of driving cases without a license will create a criminal history of citizens who can become a spot for them. Therefore, a warning and fine should be given for the first violation and a strict action can be taken in the event of repeated violation. The court disposed of the citizen’s application with instructions.
