Petitioner Abhay Singh moved to the Supreme Court with a PIL mentioning the havoc caused by unrestricted use red beacons on the government cars of the country. This petition was heard by a two judge bench consisting of Singhvi J. and Nagappan J.
The court begins by observing the roots of the practice in the Indian society and traces it back to the British era. But it adds that today, this practice most probably remains unparalleled by any country around the world except ours. Then the bench moves on to bring on record the problems the normal public faces due to these red beacons.
It was observed by the bench that today, almost all the officials of the government, ranging from the highest to the lowest rank, do not hesitate to put the red beacon on their car. This creates a stark difference between the general public and those with this cherry on the top of their cars. This results in such officials considering themselves above the traffic laws and the general public. This causes a huge disappointment in the minds of the public.
The Court hence ordered the states to restrict the use of these beacons on the official cars. They instructed all the states to amend their Motor Vehicles Acts in such a way that only the highest members of the three organs of governance, the executive, legislature and judiciary, and those holding constitutional positions are allowed to have these flashing red lights atop their official cars.
This restriction on use of red lights will certainly make the roads safer for public, if and when the same is adopted by every state of the country.
The court obviously created an exception for those who indulge in providing emergency services like police and ambulance and hence need unrestricted access to the public roads.
Author: Akshay Goel, Hidayatullah National Law University
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