LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Tuesday sought assistance from a law officer in a petition of a bar member Rana Sikander challenging the police action to include the names of underage drivers in the criminal record.

The court during the proceedings questioned the authority of the caretaker government of Punjab to increase the fee for a learner driving license.

Earlier, the Chief Traffic Officer (CTO) Mustansir Feroze said the caretaker cabinet increased the license fee. He justified the cabinet’s decision and said the fee had not been increased for a long time. The court questioned whether the caretaker chief minister had the authority to increase the fee.

The CTO also informed the court that cases against two police officers had been lodged for harassing citizens in the name of the crackdown against underage drivers. The court said no one should be forgiven, whether they are drivers or police officers.

The CTO further told the court that more than 1.4 million learner permits and 73000 regular driving licenses had been issued since the launch of crackdown. He said FIRs had been registered against over 7000 underage drivers while 16000 against those driving without a valid license. The court directed the CTO to consider release of the underage drivers on personal surety by the SHO concerned instead of presenting them before the magistrates.

The government has increased the fee for a learner driving permit from Rs 60 to Rs1000.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023