Safe Kerala Project: High Court Suo Motu Impleads Road Safety Commissioner After Direction To Pay Contractor Not Complied

The Kerala High Court on Wednesday (July 22) suo motu impleaded the Road Safety Commissioner in the plea filed by SRIT India Ltd. alleging non-payment for installing and maintaining AI Traffic cameras as part of 'Automated Traffic Enforcement' for government's Safe Kerala Project.

When the matter had come up before the bench of Justice Ziyad Rahman A.A. on Monday (July 20), the senior counsel appearing for SRIT had told that amounts have not been disbursed inspite of the Court's directions.

The Court had earlier directed the State and the Motor Vehicles Department (MVD) to release to Keltron the amounts due for the instalment and maintenance of AI traffic camera. Keltron, in turn, was directed to release the amounts due to SRIT India Ltd.

Today, the bench was told that the State has filed a petition for a direction to the petitioner to implead the Road Safety Commissioner, Kerala Road Safety Authority in the writ petition as payment is to be effected through the Commissioner.

Questioning the same, Justice Rahman orally asked: "It is their choice. How can you insist that? I'll suo motu implead."

Perusing the affidavit filed along with the State's application, the Court noted that there is some internal arrangement made among the State, MVD and the Commissioner that the payment for the project has to be effected by the Commissioner. It also took note of the fact that the said authority is not party to any of the contracts entered in relation to the same.

The senior counsel for petitioner pointed out that there is absolutely no dispute regarding the amounts to be paid in the affidavit filed by the State. He also requested that a direction be made to the Commissioner that the Court's earlier direction is applicable to it.

"That is exactly what I intend to do," the Court orally said.

It then passed an interim order:

"I am of the view that, in order to ensure a smooth process of releasing the amounts, the said respondent can be made a party to this proceedings. Accordingly, the Road Safety Commissioner, Kerala Road Safety Authority, Thiruvananthapuram is suo motu impleaded as the additional 4th respondent and the learned gp shall get instructions. It is further clarified that the impleadment of the 4th respondent is made solely with the intention to ensure that the payment is effected as ordered by this Court."

The Court also opined that the State's application need not be entertained:

"First of all, as far as the relief sought in this application is concerned, it need not be entertained because it is for the petitioner to decide who are to be impleaded as parties in the dispute. If at all the respondents have a case that proper parties are not impleaded, it is for the respondents to raise the contention of non-joinder of necessary parties and not to file an application of this nature...However, it is discernible from the records that, the Road Safety Commissioner is not a party to a contract, which is a subject matter of this writ petition and as far as the petitioner is concerned, it has no obligation to implead the Road Safety Authority as party to the proceedings."

The case is now posted to next week for further consideration.

The petition is moved by Advocates Shyam Padman (Sr.), Sidharth G., C.M. Andrews, Laya Mary Joseph, Ashwathi Shyam, Swathy Sudhir, Shimleel Ibrahim T., and S. Anupama.

Case No: WP(C) 17963/ 2026

Case Title: SRIT India Ltd. v. State of Kerala and Ors.