<p>Karnataka Director General of Police Praveen Sood’s recent directive that vehicles should not be flagged down by traffic policemen merely to check documents unless an offence has been committed should come as a relief to motorists across the state, particularly to those in Bengaluru, who have for long complained about the undue harassment from the men in uniform.</p>.<p>The diktat came in response to a social media post by Bengaluru resident Srivastava Vajapeyam who tweeted, “When Sood was ACP (Traffic) earlier, he had banned stopping vehicles for checking of documents. Now, when he is the DGP, stopping of vehicles everywhere is a daily phenomenon.”</p>.<p>While reiterating that he stood by his earlier decision, the DGP responded that he had instructed Bengaluru Police Commissioner and JCP (Traffic) to act on it immediately. Earlier, JCP B R Ravikanthe Gowda had tweeted that an assistant sub-inspector and head constable had been suspended after they stopped a vehicle for checking documents and demanded a bribe of Rs 20,000 on frivolous grounds, before finally settling for Rs 2,500.</p>.<p>But many would take Sood’s directive and this one-off action against two policemen with a pinch of salt as this is not the first time that such a directive has been made. In March 2021, the then Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai had informed the legislative council that the police would not stop any vehicle just to check documents, unless an offence had been committed. Bommai, and his successor Araga Jnanendra, may have forgotten about the issue. The police top brass, too, has looked the other way as their men devoted their time to stopping vehicles and imposing fines or collecting bribes, abandoning their primary duty of regulating traffic. Either the Karnataka police is such an indisciplined force that it does not obey orders from the top or the senior officers have remained silent for obvious reasons. </p>.<p>It is an open secret that in addition to daily departmental targets for fine collection, the cop on the ground also faces pressure to collect bribes that must be shared upwards, a function of bribery involved in police postings. So, it is likely that the DGP’s directive will be quickly forgotten, and traffic cops will be back on the prowl – for fines or bribes. But it must be remembered that stopping vehicles to check documents without cause amounts to suspecting people to be in violation of the law and is against the presumption of innocence, which is the basis of the rule of law. Just as no-one should be considered guilty until proved to be so, no-one should be considered a suspect without sufficient reason. </p>
<p>Karnataka Director General of Police Praveen Sood’s recent directive that vehicles should not be flagged down by traffic policemen merely to check documents unless an offence has been committed should come as a relief to motorists across the state, particularly to those in Bengaluru, who have for long complained about the undue harassment from the men in uniform.</p>.<p>The diktat came in response to a social media post by Bengaluru resident Srivastava Vajapeyam who tweeted, “When Sood was ACP (Traffic) earlier, he had banned stopping vehicles for checking of documents. Now, when he is the DGP, stopping of vehicles everywhere is a daily phenomenon.”</p>.<p>While reiterating that he stood by his earlier decision, the DGP responded that he had instructed Bengaluru Police Commissioner and JCP (Traffic) to act on it immediately. Earlier, JCP B R Ravikanthe Gowda had tweeted that an assistant sub-inspector and head constable had been suspended after they stopped a vehicle for checking documents and demanded a bribe of Rs 20,000 on frivolous grounds, before finally settling for Rs 2,500.</p>.<p>But many would take Sood’s directive and this one-off action against two policemen with a pinch of salt as this is not the first time that such a directive has been made. In March 2021, the then Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai had informed the legislative council that the police would not stop any vehicle just to check documents, unless an offence had been committed. Bommai, and his successor Araga Jnanendra, may have forgotten about the issue. The police top brass, too, has looked the other way as their men devoted their time to stopping vehicles and imposing fines or collecting bribes, abandoning their primary duty of regulating traffic. Either the Karnataka police is such an indisciplined force that it does not obey orders from the top or the senior officers have remained silent for obvious reasons. </p>.<p>It is an open secret that in addition to daily departmental targets for fine collection, the cop on the ground also faces pressure to collect bribes that must be shared upwards, a function of bribery involved in police postings. So, it is likely that the DGP’s directive will be quickly forgotten, and traffic cops will be back on the prowl – for fines or bribes. But it must be remembered that stopping vehicles to check documents without cause amounts to suspecting people to be in violation of the law and is against the presumption of innocence, which is the basis of the rule of law. Just as no-one should be considered guilty until proved to be so, no-one should be considered a suspect without sufficient reason. </p>
