Tinted car windows have made a quiet comeback once again in Shillong despite the Supreme Court directive to ban such tinted glass on windows and windshields ten years back.
Highland Post took a month to shoot pictures of cars in violation of the apex court order in the city while some of them manage to flee the camera lens as they zoom with sirens on. Overall there is an increase in the number of people using an additional tint as no checks were conducted for a long time.
In 2012, the Supreme Court banned the use of tinted glass, restricting visions beyond permissible limit as fixed under the Motor Vehicles Act, in vehicles.
The Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989, says that the glasses of windscreen and rear windows of vehicles should have a visual light transmission of 70 per cent and for side windows it should be at least 50 per cent.
“Ever since the ban citizens have complied to the directive and checks were conducted. When such vehicles are spotted people were asked to remove,” a police officer said.
Such vehicles were spotted again in 2019. That same year a police officer had to apologise before the Privileges Committee of the state Assembly for ordering Rambrai-Jyrngam MLA, Kimfa Marbaniang to remove tinted glass from his vehicle after the later complaint against the “behaviour” of the concerned officer.
While Only VVIPs “Z” and “Z plus” category security are exempted from this new directive of the Supreme Court, that too after a committee consisting of the Director General of Police and the Home Secretary of the state decides whom should be considered, the staff of the Home department declined to produce the list of persons, who are exempted from the order for “security reasons.”
Source said that the list was never even shared with the traffic police.
