The Supreme Court has interpreted the act of traffic police seizing the licenses, bluebooks (registration documents), and keys of traffic rule violators as illegal.
The interpretation, made by a joint bench of Justices Shreekanta Paudel and Abdul Aziz Musalman on December 21 last year, has recently been made public.
Law student Bibek Chaudhary had filed a writ petition at the Supreme Court, claiming that the traffic police were illegally confiscating the driver’s licenses, registration documents, and vehicle keys of those violating traffic rules.
Hearing the petition, the Supreme Court interpreted such actions as illegal.
"Since it appears that traffic police have been seizing documents such as driver’s licenses, bluebooks, and keys despite the law not granting permission to do so, it is necessary to stop such arbitrary and unlawful acts," the order states. "Therefore, a directive order has been issued in the name of the defendants to not seize or cause the seizure of driver's licenses, bluebooks, other documents, and keys against the Motor Vehicles and Transport Management Act, 1993."
Chaudhary had named the Ministry of Home Affairs, Police Headquarters, and the Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police Office as defendants.
The court further explained that since traffic police are only authorized to issue fines, seizing licenses imposes an undue restriction on freedom.
"When the law only grants traffic police the authority to impose fines, exercising authority beyond what is prescribed by seizing licenses results in an undue restriction on an individual's freedom of movement and the conduct of their profession or business. Such an act goes against the rule of law," the Supreme Court interpreted.
The Supreme Court also noted that this practice by the traffic police constitutes an "excessive use of power."
"Since the law does not grant police the right to confiscate or take possession of a driver’s license for traffic rule violations, doing so amounts to an excessive use of power and acting beyond one's jurisdiction," the court stated.
Referencing old precedents, the Supreme Court mentioned that every state agency must be able to demonstrate a legal basis for every action and decision taken; otherwise, such actions and decisions cannot gain legal validity.
