Despite the Supreme Court’s order, which came in May 2012, on a complete ban on use of tinted plastic films, irrespective of the degree of visibility on windscreens and other glass panels of vehicles throughout the country, the Delhi police has no separate record of private buses penalised for the violation.
When asked about the details private buses penalised for using tinted glasses and curtains, the joint commissioner of police, Mr Satyendra Garg, said that “we have no separate record for buses challaned (penalised) for using tinted glasses.” At the same time, the police has separate records for private cars and taxis penalised for using plastic films on the windscreens.
However, the police claimed that although there are no records for this specific violation, it has penalised “18, 505 charted buses, 8,188 DTC buses, 7,094 school buses and 4,876 state roadway buses were prosecuted for all violations till December 15, 2012.”
The joint commissioner failed to reply when asked why no separate record was maintained for buses as in the cases or private cars and taxis. He, however, said that “after the SC order, we focused mainly on cars and taxis and challaned 2,59, 445 four wheelers uptill December 15 in the national capital for having tinted plastic films on their car windows, but this data includes only cars and taxis.”
The police launched a massive drive on Wednesday to check buses throughout the city with tinted plastic films or curtains on their windows. The action came three days after the gangrape in a moving bus. “Any private bus, if seen picking up passengers from bus stops or a driver found without a PSV (Public Service Vehicle) badge, strict action will be taken against that person, and the bus may also be impounded in such a case,” the JCP added.