IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH, SHIMLA CWP No.13123 of 2026 Decided on: 21st August, 2026 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mahender Kumar Gautam …..Petitioner Versus State of H.P. and others .....Respondents ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Coram Ms. Justice Jyotsna Rewal Dua Whether approved for reporting?1 For the Petitioner: Mr. Karan Singh Kanwar, Senior Advocate with Mr. Ashutosh Bhardwaj, Advocate. For the Respondents: Mr. Y.P.S. Dhaulta, Additional Advocate General. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jyotsna Rewal Dua, Judge Grievance of the petitioner was noticed in the following order passed in this writ petition on 04.08.2026:- “Notice. Ms. Seema Sharma, learned Deputy Advocate, appears and waives service of notice on behalf of respondents. The gist of the petitioner’s grievance is that he was issued driving licence by respondent No.3 on 24.06.2006 (Annexure P-1); The same was valid till 23.06.2026 i.e. for a period of 20 years; An attempt was made by the petitioner to renew his driving licence on 16.07.2026 i.e. within the permissible period of one month after the expiry of the licence; The expiry of petitioner’s driving licence was reflected as 23.06.2026 (sic 23.06.2011). As per the case set up by the petitioner, the respondents have informed him that 1Whether reporters of print and electronic media may be allowed to see the order? Yes. 2 since his driving licence has expired years back, the petitioner can now only be considered for renewal/retest. Learned Senior counsel for the petitioner submits that once the driving licence was issued to the petitioner validly for a period of 20 years from 24.06.2006; once the driving licence was valid till 23.06.2026, it could not have been reflected to have expired prior to 23.06.2026. Let respondents to place on record instructions with respect to petitioner’s above grievance by the next date of hearing. Application to stand disposed of. List on 12.08.2026.” 2. Pursuant to the directions issued in the order dated 12.08.2026, Ms. Neha Negi, Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Nichar and also the Registering & Licensing Authority, Nichar (Bhabanagar)-respondent No.3 has attended the hearing. The official has apprised that grievance of the petitioner was on account of certain clerical errors that had crept into Sarathi Web Portal. It was on account of those clerical errors that expiry of petitioner’s driving license had been reflected as ‘23.06.2011’ instead of actual date of expiry, i.e. 23.06.2026. That those clerical errors have now been rectified and the expiry date of petitioner’s license in question has now been duly corrected as ‘23.06.2026’. 3. The official has placed on record the corrected endorsement receipt of Sarathi Web Portal, which reflects petitioner’s driving license in question to be valid till 23.06.2026. The error that had crept in Sarathi Web Portal 3 in depicting the date of expiry of petitioner’s driving license has been corrected by the respondents today, i.e. 21.08.2026. 4. It is the pleaded case of the petitioner that he had made an endeavor to renew his driving license on 16.07.2026, i.e. within the permissible period of one month after the expiry of his license. In view of wrong date of expiry of petitioner’s license having been depicted previously in the Sarathi Web Portal, the petitioner could not renew his driving license. Since the error has been rectified today, therefore, in the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case, the petitioner shall be at liberty to seek renewal of his aforesaid driving license within thirty days from today. In case such an application/endeavor is made by the petitioner within the aforesaid period, the same shall be treated to be within the permissible period under the Motor Vehicles Act and the Rules framed thereunder. In view of above, the present writ petition to stand disposed of. Pending miscellaneous application(s), if any, also stand disposed of. Jyotsna Rewal Dua August 21, 2026 Judge Mukesh