Delhi: Case closed, judge gets challan for stolen car

NEW DELHI: Even a judge finds it difficult to get a stolen car recovered in the capital.
A car, which had the official “JUDGE” sticker on it and was stolen in April, remains untraceable, with Delhi Police recently filing a closure report in a city court. The car, which was stolen from the lady judge’s residence, was registered in the name of one of her relatives who had earlier filed a theft complaint .
Police, which claimed to have investigated the case for the past few months, have finally recommended closure of the case before a magistrate’s court.
Interestingly, while the cops assured the victim they were making all efforts to trace the vehicle, she was shocked to receive a traffic challan for speeding. A member of the judge’s family said that the e-challan was for speeding on May 22 — two months after the vehicle was stolen.
“From the e-challan, we could recognise our car and the spot of violation was 10 km away from where we live. We immediately sent the photos to the investigating officer, but there was just assurance. Police eventually filed a closure report,” he added.
“We were under the impression that the car would be dismantled and its parts would be sold. But when we got the e-challan, a completely different picture emerged. This meant the car had till then never left the city, nor was its numberplate or other identity changed by the carjacker,” the relative said further.
For the family, the argument that a different car was being driven with their numberplate also does not hold water as the challan photo taken by a CCTV camera showed the same colour and make of the vehicle convincing them that it was the stolen vehicle.
The case closure notice stated, “Dear complainant, the untraced report of your FIR no. 009611/2020 for the stolen vehicle has been sent to court. If you have any objection, reach the court of ACMM-01, West District, Tis Hazari courts within seven days. Regards, Delhi Police Motor Vehicle Theft Application (sic).”
The bigger worry, family members say, is that the car can be misused since it has an official “JUDGE” sticker on it, allowing the vehicle access to courts across the capital.
“When a judge’s stolen car is being driven around with such conviction, I cannot imagine the predicament of a common person,” the relative rued.
As per the complaint, the car was stolen from outside the judge’s house when the city was on a self-imposed curfew just a day before the first lockdown was announced.
With the matter being reported a few minutes within the incident, the family hoped that the police’s investigation would lead to recovery. However, filing of the “untraced” report in a city court and the same being accepted on June 2 means disappointment for the family. “We had even requested police to transfer it to Crime Branch but our requests fell on deaf ears,” the relative added.