vehicle registrations were recorded manually and thereafter, a software named as VAHAN I was brought in which facilitated widespread fake registrations especially through contract employees engaged as Data Entry Operators, for reason of there being no skilled hands in the Department itself. VAHAN I also facilitated the registration directly by the dealers who were allotted a series of numbers and later this software was replaced by an advance software named as VAHAN II and then VAHAN IV. It is alleged that the unscrupulous elements in the Department, in collusion with the NIC evolved a method wherein un-utilised registration numbers allotted to the vehicle dealers at the time of VAHAN I were used to grant registration retrospectively to BS III vehicles as also stolen vehicles. There was an unholy nexus between the dealers, the Transport Officials, the Officials of the NIC and the Data Entry Operators appointed on contract basis. It is pointed out that on audit, though the fathom and extent of the scam could not be found out, there was found 23 vehicles for which tax was not paid at the time of registration. Annexure-1 is produced as the Audit Report which unfortunately is a reply by one of the employees of the Transport Department to a show cause notice; which reveals the levity and callousness with which the writ petition has been filed.
