I AM 80, retired, and consider myself to be a well-informed law-abiding citizen. Recently, I was signalled by the traffic police close to the checkpost at the intersection of Tariq Road and Shaheed-i-Millat Road. Upon inquiry, I was told in a very uncourteous and uncouth manner that I was ‘guilty’ of driving a car with number plates that had not been issued by the relevant office. I informed the policeman that on my last visit to collect the number plates, I was told that the number plates for my car were not ready even though the car has been on the roads for two years. I also showed him the vehicle registration receipt that had a stamp showing clearly that the number plates had not been issued.

This did not satisfy the officer who asked for my licence, telling me that I would be fined. He called out a couple of constables, telling them to remove my car number plates and told me to collect them from Ferozeabad Police Station after paying the challan.

When I asked the officer what I should do if the plates were still not available, I was told to visit the Motor Vehicle Department, and ask for a certificate stating this. Now a senior officer came to me, asked for my mobile phone number, printed a challan worth Rs820, handed it over to me, and retained my driving licence.

I asked him to have the number plates removed as was ordered by the officer who had initially stopped me. But the senior officer said it was not necessary, and that the official who had stopped me should not have said such a thing.

The whole episode left me a bit confused as I am not sure if the offence I was penalised for was my fault, or was this a case of harassment of citizens by the provincial government and its police.

Matin Ghani
Karachi

Published in Dawn, April 10th, 2024