Helmet-less District Magistrate & his body guard openly flout the law: Cops make a video

The new amended Motor Vehicle Act, which came into effect on 1st September 2019 has shaken up a few things. With the new fines, which are extremely high compared to the previous fines has made the new challan receipts issued by the cops viral on the Internet. While there are numerous common citizen getting fined under the new laws every day, many senior cops and administration officials are also facing the hardship of the new fines. Here is a video from Kathiyar, Bihar, where an Additional District Magistrate does not stop for the traffic barricade instead of the cops asking him to stop.

The video, which has been made by the policemen present on the spot shows Raj Mohan Jha, ADM, Kathiyar, Bihar sitting as a pillion rider on a motorcycle. The motorcycle is ridden by a policeman, who is the official bodyguard of the ADM. Both the riders do not have a helmet while riding the bike. When the cops stop them by signalling to park the bike, the ADM asks them to move away. Then the rider of the bike says that he is ADM. However, the cops insisted that they should stop. The ADM keeps on asking the personnel to ride the bike through the policemen and not stop it.

However, the cops make the video of the incident, which then went viral on the Internet. The ADM was asked by the news reporters about the incident after he reached his office. According to the video, he first denies that he did something like that but when the reporters tell him about the video that was shot at the barricade, he says that he does not know what happened and if this is something that has happened then he regrets about it. He also says that he will pay the fine if the cops issue a challan.

The fine for not wearing a helmet according to the new MV Act 2019 is Rs 1,000, which is 10 times the Rs 100 amount. However, there is a provision in the new amended MV Act which says that all the government officials and law enforcers will have to pay double the fine amount than the regular citizen. This was done to ensure that such officials strictly follow the laws. Until now, most police officers and government officials do not use the helmet or wear a seatbelt and the citizens have started making videos and asking questions to such officials.

The new MV Act has caused a huge rise in traffic violation collection across the country. However, there are states like Gujarat, Punjab, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan that have not implemented the new laws. In fact, the Gujarat government has reduced the fine amount by 90% in the state after protests by the motorists.