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Journalism of Courage
The union cabinet last week banned the use of red beacons on all vehicles — “there will be no exception to this”, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways said in a statement that beacons were “perceived as symbols of VIP culture and have no place in a democratic country”, and hailed the decision of the cabinet as “historic”.
So, is this the first attempt to regulate the use of red beacons on vehicles, widely perceived across India as an indicator of power and privilege backed by the state?
Not exactly. At its first cabinet meeting last month, the new Congress government in Punjab decided to do away with the “VIP” beacons. “My cabinet has decided to rid the state of VIP culture. All beacon lights to be removed from vehicles of Ministers, MLAs and bureaucrats,” Chief Minister Amarinder Singh tweeted on March 18. Back in December 2013, Arvind Kejriwal’s 49-day AAP government in Delhi had banned red and blue beacons, and many individual leaders, including West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Badal, do not use beacons on their vehicles.
On December 10, 2013, a Supreme Court Bench led by Justice G S Singhvi ruled that vehicles fitted with red beacons will be allowed only for “high dignitaries”, and directed the government to amend the Motor Vehicles Act to ensure that fines for violations were sufficiently large, so as to encourage deterrence. (Abhay Singh versus State of Uttar Pradesh and Others) The court had then asked all authorities to enforce these directions within a month.
Who are the “high dignitaries” who could use red beacons until now?
After the April 19 cabinet meeting, Jaitley said, “From May 1, no person in the country will be able to put a red light on their vehicles.” Until April 30, then, the high dignitaries who can use beacons — with or without flashers — include the President, Vice-President and Prime Minister, besides those specified by governments at the Centre and in the states.
A central government notification, amended in 2005, lists 12 categories of high dignitaries who can have a red beacon with a flasher on their vehicles — (1) President, (2) Vice-President, (3) Prime Minister, (4) former Presidents, (5) Deputy Prime Minister, (6) Chief Justice of India, (7) Speaker of Lok Sabha, (8) Cabinet Ministers of the Union, (9) Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, (10) former Prime Ministers, (11) Leaders of Opposition in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha, and (12) judges of the Supreme Court.
Subsequently, a second list of high dignitaries was drawn up who could use a red beacon but without a flasher. On this list were: (1) Chief Election Commissioner, (2) Comptroller and Auditor General of India, (3) Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha, (4) Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha, (5) Union Ministers of State, (6) Members of the Planning Commission, (7) Attorney General of India, (8) Cabinet Secretary, (9) Chiefs of Staff of the three Services holding the rank of full General or equivalent rank, (10) Deputy Ministers of the Union, (11) Officiating Chiefs of Staff of the three Services holding the rank of Lt General or equivalent rank, (12) Chairman of Central Administrative Tribunal, (13) Chairman of the Minorities Commission, (14) Chairman of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Commission, and (15) Chairman of the Union Public Service Commission.
How is the new notification banning the use of red beacons different from the Supreme Court’s 2013 direction?
The key difference is that the ban now will be total — and even vehicles of the President, Prime Minister and Chief Justice of India will not be exempt. Sub-rule 1(iii) of Rule 108 (‘Use of red, white or blue light’) of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, which is applicable currently, says that “No motor vehicle shall show a red light to the front or light other than red to rear, provided that the provisions of this rule shall not apply to… a vehicle carrying high dignitaries as specified by the Central Government or the State Government, as the case may be, from time to time”. As per a draft of the Central Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Rules, 2017, notified by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways on April 20, this clause “shall be omitted”. The draft rules also propose to do away with sub-rules 2 and 3 of Rule 108, which deal with the use of “blue light with or without flasher”.
What did the 2013 order say about the use of beacons by vehicles on emergency duty?
The Bench allowed the use of lights atop emergency vehicles, but said they could not be red — it reserved that colour for “high dignitaries”. The judgment said: “The men in uniform; operational agencies which require un-hindered access to the roads for performance of their duty; those engaged in emergency duties such as ambulance services, fire services, emergency maintenance etc, and police vehicles used as escorts or pilots or for law and order duties shall not be entitled to have red lights but lights of other colours, eg, blue, white, multicoloured, etc.”
The Delhi Police had appealed the order, pleading that red, which “triggers the quickest response from public”, was “the best” colour for its operations. It cited the optical phenomenon of Rayleigh scattering to argue that “red light has maximum penetration even in low-visibility conditions such as fog, dust and at night. Blue light has the minimum wavelength and least penetration”.
In January 2015, a Supreme Court Bench led by Chief Justice H L Dattu accepted the Delhi Police’s plea and allowed the necessary modification in the December 2013 order.
And what do the draft rules say about emergency vehicles?
The cabinet has decided that emergency services, like ambulances and Fire Brigade, will be allowed to use blue beacons. Rule 108(4) of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, says, “Use of multi-coloured red, blue and white light shall be permitted only on vehicles specifically designated for emergency duties and shall be specifically specified by State Governments. The draft rules notified on April 20 take this power away from state governments — they say that the words “emergency duties and shall be specifically specified by State Governments” shall be replaced by the words “such emergency and disaster management duties as may be specified by the Central Government”.
What if a beacon is still found being misused?
It can be reported to state transport authorities, the local police, or the traffic police, who will issue a challan. The 2013 judgment recommended that “Legislature will make appropriate amendments and make provision for imposition of adequate penalty which may operate as deterrent against misuse of the provision…” The misuse of a red beacon is currently dealt with under Section 177 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, which deals with “General provision for punishment of offences”. Fines under this section range from Rs 100 to Rs 300. The penalities will be much more severe once the use of red beacons is banned from May 1, 2017, and may include a jail term.
