Punjab and Haryana high court on Tuesday took suo motu cognizance of severe traffic congestion on the road leading to HC after several judges were delayed on their way to court.Terming the situation a case of “gross negligence and dereliction of duty,” one of the judges summoned the Director General of Police (DGP), Chandigarh, to explain the apparent failure in traffic management.However, later in the day, a bench headed by Chief Justice Sheel Nagu disposed of the matter with directions to Chandigarh police to make all efforts to ensure that such traffic snarls do not occur before or after court hours.On Tuesday morning, Justice Sandeep Moudgil of the HC, while taking suo motu cognizance of the traffic jams near high court, observed that at around 9.55 am, most of the judges were stuck in a traffic jam near the roundabout leading to the high court premises. “This traffic congestion resulted in delay in the timely commencement of the court proceedings. Notably, the PSO attached with me had to step out of the vehicle to clear the traffic, as the police personnel stationed at the roundabout failed to take prompt action and ensure smooth passing of the judges vehicles. Additionally, there were protesters also who managed to reach the main gate of the civil secretariat barricade during the ongoing Vidhan Sabha session. To address this apparent laxity on the part of the Chandigarh police, let the DGP Chandigarh remain present in court today at 2 pm to explain as to how the protesters reached to the above spot which is prima facie, a case of gross negligence and dereliction of duty,” Justice Moudgil observed while referring the matter to Chief Justice’s court.When the matter came up for hearing around 2pm, Chandigarh DGP Sagar Preet Hooda along with SSP and SP (traffic), Chandigarh, appeared before the bench headed by Chief Justice Sheel Nagu.Representing Chandigarh police, senior standing counsel, UT, informed the bench that the traffic jam arose on Tuesday morning on account of 10-12 Haryana MLAs walking towards Haryana assembly to attend the session. “The traffic was much smoother and it was only because of the MLAs, who were walking along with their staff and some media persons, the vehicular movement could not be cleared immediately by the cops, and it took an unusually high time to clear the traffic,” he said. The UT counsel tried to convey to the bench that Tuesday’s jam was beyond the control of the police officials. He further assured the bench that in future no such traffic chaos would take place, little prior to or subsequent to court hours on the road.After hearing the UT counsel, the Chief Justice disposed of the matter with directions to the UT to make all endeavours in future to avoid such traffic jams.Last year, high court had directed Chandigarh police to deploy two DSP-rank officers from 8.30 am to 10.30 am and thereafter from 3 pm to 5 pm every day along with adequate number of traffic police personnel to regulate the traffic on the high court premises. Punjab and Haryana high court has a daily footfall of around 30,000 people, which includes lawyers, litigants, HC staff, and others. Because of shortage of parking facilities on the court premises, the UT police has permitted parking of cars on the roads near the high court.
