Yesterday only in my column I had mentioned about people using tinted glasses in their cars. And ironically the day I wrote the column (i.e. on Monday), in the evening only I saw a Santro car with pitch black tinted glasses. One couldn’t even make out who was driving the car. The car (DL 4C R 3523) had a board affixed above the number plate painted in the colours of Delhi Police (Red and Blue) saying it belonged to some human rights forum and was entering Karol Bagh from Pusa Road. I just want to make a point here what these people must be doing in the name of NGO when they themselves don’t respect the law. Behind too above the number plate the car had the colours of Delhi Police painted so that if a cop sees it from behind, he thinks it belongs to some Delhi Police officer. In my opinion, such people should be punished and heavily fined.

This is not a sole case of this type on Delhi roads. I see plenty of cars using boards of some crime prevention cell, etc and every car has tinted glasses. I spoke to a traffic police official and he said, “Such agencies are fraud. They register themselves in the name of some NGO working towards crime prevention and then distribute ID cards and stickers to people for a price. Suppose he sells it for Rs 400 to 100 people, he makes a cool Rs 40,000. Another thing that they guarantee is that if these cars with stickers gets challaned, then these agencies make it sure that the challan is cancelled.”

I think Delhi police should launch a drive where they should ensure a blanket ban on tinted glasses within the city. Meanwhile, for the benefit of commuters, I must inform them that there’s a drive going on by the Delhi Traffic Police against visible violations in intersections. So beware Delhiites, be on your guard.