The Orissa High Court on Wednesday sought an affidavit from the State Transport Authority (STA) on the current status of the infrastructure provided to complete the High Security Registration Plate (HSRP) in a hassle free manner, on or before October 31.
Besides, the court also wanted to know the current situation on slot booking and the penalty the STA aims to levy on violators, through the affidavit.
Speaking to OTV, Kajol Sahu, the counsel of the petitioner said, “The STA never submitted any written statement to the court about its plans on the HSRP drive. They had verbally said that the entire infrastructure for HSRP registration is at place.”
“So, the court ordered them (STA) to submit an affidavit detailing all the arrangements made for slot booking to technical glitches, on or before October 31,” Sahu said.
The court had earlier questioned the move of the Odisha government fixing the deadline for the affixation of plates without having proper infrastructure.
Unless you make facility easy, it is not possible for people to apply (for HSRP). As per the petitioner’s counsel, the number plate will be automatically captured in the CCTV cameras and penalty will be levied. You can not show the booking slip (of HSRP) outside to the CCTV cameras. All impractical. Why do you fix the deadlines like this. First the infrastructure has to be in place. Otherwise, it is all harassment," the court had said.
The Odisha government on September 30 revised the timeline for affixation of HSRP in vehicles. As per the latest notification issued by the STA, the timeline for affixing HSRP has been extended by one month.
Revised Timeline For HSRP
Vehicles carrying Odisha registration mark and registration number ending with 1 and 2: October 31, 2022
Vehicles carrying Odisha registration mark and registration number ending with 3 and 4: October 31, 2022
Vehicles carrying Odisha registration mark and registration number ending with 5 and 6: November 30, 2022
Vehicles carrying Odisha registration mark and registration number ending with 7 and 8: December 31, 2022
Vehicles carrying Odisha registration mark and registration number ending with 9 and 0: January 31, 2023.