Traffic woes:HC summons BEST, traffic police officers on May 7

Apart from the duo, a division bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice N M Jamdar has also summoned the Joint Commissioner of traffic police, Deputy Chief Engineer of roads from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), and the concerned officer from the RTO.

The court was hearing a public interest litigation filed by the Bombay Bar Association seeking implementation of traffic rules and regulations and strict action against violators.

It was pointed out to the court today that traffic police constables behave rudely with pedestrians. Advocate Armin Wandrewala, who has intervened in the PIL, told the court that BEST buses fail to abide by the traffic signals.

The court was irked by the fact that three policemen of the level of senior police inspectors were present in court for the hearing.

"We have said in a serious issue like this, a senior officer at least of the level of Joint Commissioner of Police or Deputy Commissioner of Police should remain present," Chief Justice Shah said.

As per the court's directions on the earlier hearing on March 12, a report was filed by the Assistant Commissioner of Police (Administration), stating that out of 3225 sanctioned posts in the traffic department, 676 are lying vacant.

Also, there are 1,250 traffic chowks in the city. Of these, 550 are completely managed by traffic signals. In the remaining 700 chowks, traffic personnel are deployed in two shifts to direct traffic. PTI SP DK

HKS