• Bribe Fighter
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Harrasement by Traffic Police Officer

Reported on February 26, 2015 from Mumbai , Maharashtra  ι Report #52683

Name of the officer : Vijay D Doore
Date of the incident: 26th February 2015
Time of the incident: 10:35 AM
Location of the incident and / the office where the incident took place: On Road at Evershine Junction at Malad West Mumbai
Designation of the officer: Traffic Constable, PC06325

At Ever-Shine junction in Malad West, you have a left Signal which stays yellow even when the straight and right one is turned RED. When I passed through that this constable stopped me after I crossed good 50-60 meters at turning. (They always stay there hiding and do not stand at the junction managing the traffic.) Since I pass through that place five days a week I am aware about this fact too. When I told him that it remains yellow this officer told me that it never turns yellow when the straight one is in RED.
All my requests to him to visit it with me and see for himself fell to deaf ears of a person who had smelled money. When I told him that please do not make a receipt because I directly told you that it was Yellow and I was right in crossing it, he told me that I would have to visit court. To a middle class person who has never ever seen court from outside (forget about visiting it ) and even for franking a document visits the home/office of a family lawyer (if there is a term like this) this was a serious threat. Still I was not ready to succumb to the pressure tactics and told him all my documents are valid. He was still making me feel like a criminal who has murdered someone.

Further to this he went ahead and told me that my Bike Number MH43K758 should be written as MH43K0758. This is also an offence and now you would have to answer to the Judge in court. I am owning this bike for the more than 10 years now and have at least paid fine for more than 5 times (always for wrong parking as far as I remember) and was never told that it is an offence and you have to pay fine or face the judge for this very reason. Nor was I pointed to get this corrected which was put up from day one by the Dealer I bought it from.
While I was still under shock this Officer went ahead and took a snap of my bike telling me ""SEE YOU IN COURT".
I am always told that ZERO loses it value if it is on the left most side of a number however I was definitely not aware if this would cost me my time, money and the mental agony of Visiting Borivali Court.
To my defense, I approached this officer and requested him to visit to the signal along with me to check if the yellow light functions or not. He again refused and told me to go see yourself. I came back with a snap of the main signal being RED with the left signal being yellow. He again told me I will see you in court and also told me that it would not matter if I do anything on internet or approach anyone as long as I need my License Back.

While I decided not to settle this matter with him initially when I told him I am ready to pay now (Rs. 200 which includes Rs. 100 for the number not containing a ZERO, a provision that he forcefully entered as I refused to do any adjustments) he denied by saying see you in court.

This kind of harassment in the last days of the month has forced me to dread the implication the new provisions in the Transport Bill where they want to fine people Rs. 5000 for the offence which currently requires Rs. 100 to be submitted. This would just turn out to be another tool in the hands of Traffic Police to harass people in order to make some quick buck. I know I could have settled this matter by paying Rs. 50 or max Rs. 100 and would now need to visit the Borivali Court in a couple of days or so I am happy today with this call and would sleep with a clear conscious.

Just a message to Mr Gadkari,

Please do not give USTARA in the hands of Monkeys Sir. They would cut the throats of normal pubic and I firmly believe that there should be a provision for checking the documents and compliance of road safety rules violated by the Traffic Police officials. (Vijay D Deore's vehicle number plate had lost TA pasted on it as well).

What is your reaction after reading this report?