Chandigarh, May 29 -- Taking a stern view of public service delays, the Punjab Transparency and Accountability Commission has issued a show-cause notice to Abohar sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Ravinder Singh Arora over an unusually high volume of pending driving licence applications. The commission has warned of a Rs.10,000 penalty and potential departmental action for administrative negligence. The commission intervened suo motu under Section 16 of the Punjab Transparency and Accountability in Delivery of Public Services Act, 2018. This followed a March 2026 pendency report submitted by state transport commissioner Parneet Shergill. According to the report, 157 applications for new driving licences and 125 renewal applications remained pending beyond statutory deadlines at the Abohar SDM office in Fazilka district. In its notice on May 11, 2026, the commission observed that the 282 delayed cases violated the accountability Act, which mandates transparent, accountable, and time-bound delivery of public services. Under the Act's 2019 notification, the state mandates a strict timeline of just seven working days to issue both fresh driving licences and renewals once an application is cleared. In Abohar, these timelines were ignored. The March 2026 audit revealed that 157 fresh licence applications and 125 renewal requests had not only exceeded the one-week statutory limit but also remained frozen in the system for weeks. Prior to Arora taking charge as the Abohar SDM, Krishan Pal held the position, during whose tenure a significant portion of the backlog accrued. The commission said that the backlog reflected "non-adherence to statutory timelines" and indicated a prima facie failure by the designated authority. Consequently, Arora, a Punjab Civil Services (PCS) officer, must explain why the penalty should not be personally imposed on him. The commission also warned that the backlog could trigger formal departmental proceedings under Section 16(4) of the Act. Arora was directed to submit a detailed reply within seven days, outlining the reasons for the backlog and his corrective strategies. The process hit a bureaucratic snag when Arora drafted his response on May 14 but mistakenly routed it to the state transport commissioner instead of the accountability commission. The commission had not received his explanation by the deadline. However, on Thursday (May 28), Arora emailed the reply directly to the commission and requested a personal hearing via video conferencing before any punitive action is decided. When contacted, Arora defended his track record, citing delays in his administrative onboarding. "I joined the office in March this year, and my official ID was created only in April. Due to an inadvertent error, the initial reply was submitted to the state transport commissioner instead of the accountability commission. However, I emailed the reply to it on Thursday and have requested them to fix a date for a personal hearing," he said. Copies of the notice have been forwarded to Fazilka DC Amarpreet Kaur Sandhu and additional deputy commissioner (general) Mandeep Kaur. The move aligns with a broader push by the accountability commission, which has recently issued multiple notices to state officials over delayed certificates, no-objection certificates, and basic civic services to enforce citizen-centric governance across Punjab....