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This is an archive article published on October 11, 2015
Maharashtra police dept withdraws ‘unfit’ car provided to Pratibha Patil
Car did not have registration papers, insurance documents and RTO certificate.
3 min read
The state police department had provided the former President of India, Pratibha Patil, currently staying in Pune, with a car “unfit to be used on roads” as well as lacking required documents like registration papers, insurance documents and RTO certificate. This points to an inherent paradox in our system where police personnel often penalise vehicle users for failing to produce required documents or for violating traffic rules.
The car was in the ‘service’ of the former president for over seven months and was finally withdrawn after she refused to use it. However, no incident of being fined for using such a car has ever been reported.
The car (MH01 YA3399) was provided to Pratibha Patil by Maharashtra Police’s State Intelligence Department on February 23, 2015. It was to replace another bulletproof car (DL01 CM 3901) provided to her by Delhi Police in May 2013. The car provided by Delhi police was withdrawn after the former president complained that it was “too old” and “it had become risky to travel in that car”.
After her private secretary sent repeated reminders to the Union Home Ministry and the Maharashtra government, the state police finally provided her with another car. However, according to Patil’s secretary, its condition “was so bad that RTO refused to provide it a certificate for VVIP travel.”
In a letter addressed to the Home Ministry, he said that the driver was seeing double images through the car’s windshield while driving, the brakes were feeble and the doors of the car were jammed making it “difficult” to open.
“I would like to bring to your kind notice that this car is an old one and has been extensively used by previous VIPs and has now become risky for traveling. It also doesn’t have the RTO fitness certificate. The driver is also not trained for BP car driving. Moreover, a vehicle, especially one allotted for a VVIP, should meet the basic requirement that its insurance and registration papers are in place. No such document is available,” wrote G K Das, private secretary of Patil.
Sources close to Patil said that the car was “rarely used” by her and she preferred her own car — a Toyota Corolla. They said that the current security status of the former president did not require her to travel in a bulletproof car.
Jaideep Deshmukh, an aide of Patil, said that the after a number of reminders and requests to the Intelligence Department, the car was finally taken away last week. It is yet to be replaced. SID officials, concerned with VIP Security, could not be reached for comments as they are busy for Vice President Hamid Ansari’s visit to the city on Saturday.
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