Mumbai police to BUST vehicles with ‘Police’, ‘Press’ & ‘Judge’ stickers after High Court orders

The Bombay High Court has ruled that private vehicles should not sport logos or letters pertaining to ‘Nyaydhish’, ‘Judge’ or ‘Metropolitan Magistrate’. Following the high court order, the Mumbai Police department has swung into action and is now acting against private vehicles that sport ‘police’, ‘press’ and ‘judge’ stickers.

Confirming this development, Madhukar Pandey, Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Mumbai had this to say to DNA.

People use the logo as a way to violate traffic rules and get away with it. Moreover, many cases of impersonation have also been recorded where they fleece money from unsuspecting motorists who either jump a signal or violate some other traffic rules. These stickers are easily available in the market for as low as Rs 15, allowing anyone to paste it on the windscreen of the cars or motorcycle’s mudguard or number plates.

A lot of private vehicles in India sport such stickers, in the hope that they will not be harassed by police officials, and also to flout laws without worrying about penal action from police officials. However, sporting such stickers on private vehicles amounts to misrepresentation, and in some cases, is also impersonation. These are serious offences, and violators can even be jailed for such offences.

As per the Per section 134 (6) of the Maharashtra Motor Vehicles Rules (MMVR) and section 177 of the Motor Vehicles Act (MVA), displaying a word, figure, drawing or sticker on private vehicles carries a fine of Rs 200. This need not be ‘police’, ‘judge’ or ‘press’ and can include any random sticker. Cops in Mumbai have begun cracking down on vehicles sporting ‘official looking’ stickers on private vehicles after owners of such vehicles have begun to routinely flout the law. Parking offences are said to be the most common form of rule breaking by such vehicles, and in a city like Mumbai where space of every kind is at a premium, this comes as no surprise.

Indian roads are known for being extremely dangerous mainly due to motorists flouting road rules without worrying about consequences. Although there are strict laws to deal with almost every traffic offence, enforcement is lax and police officials are corrupt. The Indian government plans to tighten the screws on traffic rule violators with an amendment to the Motor Vehicle Act. This amendment could become law once the Rajya Sabha (upper house of the Indian parliament) passes it. The amendment will increase traffic fines in a big way, hoping that this will deter violators.