Kashmir has reacted sharply to traffic department’s drive to seize vehicles which don’t have UT registration numbers. 137 vehicles have been seized so far which have outside Jammu and Kashmir registration numbers. People have raised strong objections against this exercise and many have alleged harassment from authorities.
Umar Ahmad, a resident of Safa Kadal said that his vehicle was seized by authorities even though he had all legal documents. He was shocked when Police stopped him and seized his vehicle. It has a New Delhi registration number. Despite the fact that he had all the documents including NOC, driving license, and registration certificate, he was asked to leave his vehicle with them.
Zahid Zahoor, a valley-based businessman in New Delhi also alleged that Police seized his vehicle in Srinagar. He lives in New Delhi and his vehicle is also registered in NCR. Authorities are asking to register vehicles in UT and pay nine percent tax. Sajad Ahmad, another local said that vehicles registered in New Delhi, Chandigarh, and Haryana have been a frequent sight in Kashmir for a long time. He said that Kashmiris often buy second-hand vehicles. Government authorities never seized such vehicles before.
Ikramullah Tak, Regional Transport Officer of Kashmir told The Kashmir Monitor that Police is seizing vehicles under provisions of Motor vehicle Act. He said that every state is implementing this rule and it is not being done by J&K alone. Motor vehicle Act states that anyone who has bought a vehicle from a non-resident of UT/State has to get NOC. They have not issued any specific order, but have appealed to people to get NOC for such vehicles as the law mentions.
He said that this is necessary for making sure that traffic rules are implemented and being followed by people. In a recent incident, a vehicle with outside registration hit one of their officials. They caught the driver of that vehicle after checking CCTV footage. He asked that how will a common person catch the driver if a vehicle has outside J&K registration number.
