Amend the MV Act to punish tinted glass vehicle owners: HC

New Delhi, Aug 4 (UNI) The Delhi High Court today directed the Government to amend the Motor Vehicles Act making it more stringent for the offenders who have vehicles with tinted glass or dark films on the windows.

A division bench headed by Justice Mukundakam Sharma asked the Delhi Police to frame guidelines to punish the owners of the vehicles having tinted glass or dark films beyond the permissible limits.

The Court said the section 163 of the Motor Vehicles Act should be amended to prescribe stringent punishment for the offenders.

While hearing a PIL filed by Saraswati Pillai, the High Court had issued notices to the Delhi Police Commissioner, Delhi Government and the Union Government as to why the ban on tinted glasses under Section 100 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 was not being implemented seriously.

These rules require that the windscreen and the rear window of every motor vehicle have a visual transmission of light no less than 70 per cent, and the side windows less than 50 per cent.

Filing a report, the Delhi Traffic police had said the penalty on the offenders would be more stringent with imposition of Rs 1000 as fine for the first offence and imprisonment to subsequent offences.

However, the guidelines had to be approved by the State and Central Governments before implementing it in the Capital.

The Traffic Police had expressed its inability to prosecute the vehicles which were registered with the Transport Authority of the neighbouring states.

In the petition, Pillai said due to tinted glass and dark films on the windows of the vehicles, the crime against women in the Capital had increased.

The police had failed to prosecute the offending vehicle owners and curb the crime despite repeated representation, said the petition filed by Counsel Wills Mathew.

UNI PAT VA GC2003