Mumbai Police chief rolls back ‘FIR for traffic violation policy’; motorists seek withdrawal of all cases against them

The traffic police will no longer register FIRs against motorists driving on the wrong side with the new Police Commissioner Vivek Phansalkar revoking the harsh measure imposed by his predecessor Sanjay Pandey While the decision has given relief to vehicle users those already facing the FIRs are living in fear as the police say their cases will proceed as per the law One of them said he almost lost his job because his office thought he had committed a crimeA cop stops a biker for wrongside riding at Tardeo File picPhansalkar has asked the traffic cops to book violators under the Motor Vehicles Act instead of the Indian Penal Code As per Pandeyrsquos order every traffic division was told to register a minimum of 5 FIRs or first information reports daily for wrongside driving Only strict measures would ensure road safety Pandey had claimedThough courts slapped cash penalties on the offenders a conviction can potentially hurt them if they apply for a passport or a government job The police said Phansalkar was not in favour of damaging the offendersrsquo career prospects as most of them are young midday spoke to some of the victims of the road discipline measurelsquoI thought I would be sackedrsquoAkshay JadhavAkshay Jadhav who works as an office assistant with a Parelbased firm was booked at Byculla on July 4 for wrongside riding Jadhav 26 said he accidentally entered the wrong side while looking for an ATM ldquoI requested the police a lot but they refused to listen It was as if I have rammed into someonerdquo said Jadhav who is pursuing BA from Mumbai University ldquoWhen my office learnt about the FIR they kept telling me that I must have argued with the police Their argument was who registers an FIR for wrongside riding I was scared I would lose my job It was only after midday published my ordeal along with my photograph did they believe me I thank midday for highlighting the issue At least no one will face an FIR for such mistakesrdquolsquoI confessed but still no reliefrsquoRohan Kambli a fisherman from Worli said booking wrongside riders for rash driving was unnecessary ldquoThree months after the case was registered against me I was called to the court where I even confessed to wrongside driving I was told to pay a fine and contest the case I hope the police will take necessary steps and quash the cases against people like me who have been booked for wrongside drivingrdquoEven we felt bad CopsTraffic police officers said even they were not gungho about the drive ldquoWe felt really bad while booking young motorists many used to plead to us not to book them but we were bound by the order from the top I had to book a boy who was going to a hospital and had taken to the wrong side to save time We are happy that this has been scrappedrdquo said a traffic cop requesting anonymity DCP PRO Balsingh Rajput said ldquoThe decision to charge traffic violators according to the Motor Vehicles Act was taken by CP after reviewing the cases filed till now During the crime meeting the CP mentioned that unnecessary filing of FIR in traffic violations hampers youngstersrsquo careers Though maintaining traffic discipline is necessary but action should not be exorbitant Therefore all the traffic cops have been asked to only charge motorists for violation not to file FIRsrdquolsquoThey booked me as I did not pay up Rs 3000rsquoChembur resident Jignesh Vishwakarma 31 was caught at Nehru Nagar signalldquoIrsquom into emergency services and when I was caught at the Nehru Nagar signal I was actually on my way to attend an emergency call I was told to drop a cop at the police station So I dropped him thinking that I would be allowed to go However I was made to sit for several hours I had never been to a police station before There was a guy who asked me to pay R3000 and threatened me with a case When I refused to pay up they filed an offence against merdquo said Jignesh Vishwakarma The 31yearold Chembur resident said there were no road signs at the spot where he was caught ldquoThis was nothing but harassment Irsquom happy that no one will suffer like usrdquolsquoHope our cases would be quashedrsquoDhiraj NaikKandivli resident Dhiraj Naik said he was taken to the Borivli police station after he was caught for wrongside riding at Shimpoli junction ldquoIt was not as if I had committed a crime Itrsquos good to know that they have withdrawn their earlier order I hope they would soon take necessary steps to quash the cases registered against us so that our records become cleanrdquo said Naik adding that he was allowed to go home only after his mother came with some documents and stood as a guarantor21000No of FIRs registered for wrongside driving so far