THE Land Transport Authority (LTA) has been criticised for not abiding a court ruling that had ordered it to return a Traffic Infringement Notice fine to a business entity.
Abdul Wahab, trading as Colormix and Hardware Supplies of Labasa, was fined for carrying access weight.
On October 24, 2023, the Magistrate’s Court in Labasa ruled that there was no case to answer and acquitted the entity.
“It is particularly important, in my view, that statutory authorities, such as the applicant (LTA), do not flout binding court orders,” said Justice Lee James Burney in his October 8 ruling.
“In the present case, the Resident Magistrate ordered that the fine was to be refunded within 14 days. We are now almost a year on and the applicant has still not refunded the fine.
“I note that, rather than exercising its right to appeal against the impugned ruling, the applicant chose to sit on its hands for almost six months before filing what I have found to be a wholly misconceived challenge to the impugned ruling.”
“It goes without saying that the fine must be refunded without further delay.”