CUTTACK: A woman has been penalised for driving car without helmet. Strange, but true. The woman, Shradha Das of CDA Sector-6, was issued the e-challan for ‘not wearing helmet’.
The matter came to light after Das, a lawyer, brought the matter to the notice of Cuttack Regional Transport Officer (RTO) and State Road Transport Authority through a tweet recently.
The e-challan was issued for a traffic violation - not wearing helmet while driving. She was booked under Section 177 of Motor Vehicle Act and asked to pay a fine of Rs 100.
“I was unaware that I had been issued an e-challan for not wearing helmet while driving car. I discover this after receiving the computer-generated e-challan on June 25”, she said in the Tweet.
“Shockingly, the four-wheeler was found to be my car”, said Das. The woman claimed that neither she nor anyone from her family was driving the vehicle on the date.
“This is a false case as my car was in the garage and not driven either by me or anyone in the family,” she alleged.
Meanwhile, RTO Dipti Ranjan Patra accepted the fault stating that it was a mistake made inadvertently by the enforcing officials.
“The officer concerned had selected the correct section of offence but posted the wrong narration by mistake in the drop-down box by mentioning “Driving/Riding without helmet” instead of “Driving/Riding without seat belt,” said Patra.
An explanation has also been sought from the officer concerned and all the officers have been instructed to be more careful while selecting the narration, he added.