CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court on Friday issued notice to the Transport commissioner and chairman of State Transport Authority (STA) and the additional commissioner (enforcement) on a petition challenging a `10,000 challan imposed for alleged violation of pollution norms under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.
A single-judge bench of Justice SK Panigrahi sought responses from the authorities within two weeks and directed that the matter be listed for further consideration on January 30. Dr Keertidhara Das (70), a resident of Bhubaneswar, filed the petition against a challan issued on December 21, 2025, in respect of his four-wheeler purchased in 2018. The penalty was imposed under section 190(2) of the Motor Vehicles Act, which prescribes a fine of up to Rs 10,000 for violations relating to air and noise pollution.
Appearing for the petitioner, advocate Sahasransu Sourav contended that the additional commissioner of Transport (enforcement) had imposed the maximum penalty in a blanket manner without recording any reasons or specifying the basis for levying the highest fine.
Such imposition, he argued, was arbitrary, illegal and contrary to the scheme of the Act. The petition submitted that before issuing a challan under section 190(2), the authority concerned is mandatorily required to follow Rule 116 of the Central Motor Vehicle Rules.
As per the rule, an officer must first direct the vehicle owner to submit the vehicle for pollution testing, and only upon failure to do so can a penalty be imposed. In the present case, no such procedure was followed, rendering the challan without authority of law, the plea stated.
It was also argued that no offence under section 190(2) had been committed by the petitioner, as the additional commissioner was not present at the spot and had no objective basis to form a “reason to believe” that the vehicle violated prescribed pollution norms under Rule 115.
The case assumes significance in the backdrop of an ongoing controversy over enforcement of pollution norms in Odisha. Earlier, on January 6, a division bench headed by Chief Justice Harish Tandon had sought the state government’s response to the STA’s decision to deny fuel to vehicles lacking valid Pollution Under Control Certificates (PUCCs). The proposed policy, initially scheduled from January 1 and later deferred to March 31 amid public backlash and overcrowding at testing centres, has drawn sharp legal and public scrutiny.