AHMEDABAD: Gujarat High Court blasted Ahmedabad traffic authorities for inaction in law enforcement during a hearing on Tuesday.
The "court is fed up" with the state's inaction thus far, as well as the state's failure to enforce traffic regulations and the Gujarat High Court's instructions made in this respect in 2006 and 2018, it said.
The court also stated that the traffic police have been weak in enforcing traffic laws, resulting in offenders committing obvious crimes with impunity.
The warning followed a horrific collision on Ahmedabad’s Sarkhej - Gandhinagar Highway in which a speeding automobile left nine people dead and 13 more injured.
The court gave the authorities until August 9 to show action on the ground and its outcomes, specifically with the application of traffic and parking legislation.
“What is the real cause of this incident? These offenders have no respect for the law. They break the law openly and without consequence,” Justice Supehia said to the government pleader who represented the Ahmedabad traffic police.
The court also remarked that “lawbreakers must be afraid that they will face repercussions from authorities on the ground level before breaking the law.”
The government's pleader, on the other hand, stated that "following the court's observations on July 19, the state is undertaking a special drive to crack down on traffic violators,”
Court said that “it has to be a regular mechanism instead of occasional temporary drives."
As lawyers for the authorities requested the court to provide more time to prove results, they stressed that they are not treating the action as adversarial and that, ultimately, charging against two officers will not serve the objective that the court desires. Taking this into account, the court granted the authorities an extension until August 9.
