The lawyers’ protest in Shimla may have inconvenienced locals and tourists and disrupted traffic for hours, but it has also drawn attention to serious flaws in the state capital's permit system for sealed and restricted roads.
The lawyers, upset over the state government's decision to prohibit the entry of their vehicles on the sealed road from Chhota Shimla to the High Court without a permit and over the hike in permit fees, insisted that the police check the permits of some VIP vehicles using the road and challan those found violating the rules. The police ultimately issued challans to some vehicles violating the permit norm, including those belonging to Public Works Minister Vikramaditya Singh, a district administration officer and a senior police official.
It is pertinent to mention that Vikramaditya Singh's mother, former Pradesh Congress Committee president and former MP Pratibha Singh, was travelling in the vehicle when it was challaned.
In Shimla, vehicles are not allowed to ply on sealed and restricted roads without a permit. Most of these roads connect various parts of the city to the Mall Road.
Under an earlier arrangement, advocates were allowed to use the sealed road from Chhota Shimla to the High Court, with the High Court Bar Association issuing passes to lawyers for a nominal fee. However, since last week, lawyers' vehicles were been stopped by the authorities and they had been asked to obtain permits from the Home Department, a move that has irked the lawyers.
The annual permit fee for vehicle entry on sealed roads was hiked from Rs 2,500 to Rs 10,000 during the Budget session of the state Assembly earlier this year. The concept of sealed roads was introduced to restrict vehicular movement on roads leading to the Mall Road, provide pedestrians with more space to walk and help check pollution levels in the city's central areas.
The lawyers contend that if officers' vehicles can ply on sealed roads without permits, lawyers and other citizens should not be stopped then. “The vehicles belonging to the officers, who do not have their offices or residences near the mall, are every time plying on sealed roads to take their families for daily works, shopping and other things. Then why lawyers and other people are being stopped to go to even their homes or offices through sealed road? The lawyers avoid using Cart Road to reach High Court due to heavy traffic during morning hours, as they have to reach court on time,” argued the lawyers.
After meeting the lawyers, the Chief Minister entrusted a committee with the task of resolving the issue. The police later registered FIRs against some individuals under relevant Sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for obstructing public thoroughfares, disobeying lawful orders and causing public nuisance.
"The lawyers should have avoided this protest and taken up the issue directly with the Chief Minister. Their approach caused considerable inconvenience to locals and tourists during peak hours. Eventually, when they met the Chief Minister, he listened to their concerns and referred the matter to a committee, which will decide on a suitable arrangement," said Principal Media Adviser to the Chief Minister Naresh Chauhan.
He added that the permit system for sealed and restricted roads in Shimla has existed for years and that it would be unfair to blame the present government alone for the issue. On the FIRs against lawyers, he said the police had acted according to the law.
Whatever the outcome, many locals feel that politicians and government officers enjoy greater freedom to use sealed and restricted roads, often without permits, while ordinary citizens face difficulties in obtaining them. Very few other people are granted permits.
Government vehicles can frequently be seen using Shimla's sealed roads without being checked, whereas residents living in areas connected by such roads often have to undergo a lot of hassle to secure permits. Tourists also face problems reaching the Mall Road from the Cart Road, especially if they are not near the HPTDC lift, as taxis are generally not permitted to use sealed roads.
Some tourists who are unfamiliar with Shimla's sealed-road system are heavily fined if they bring their vehicles on the sealed/restricted roads unknowingly.
"The government needs to streamline the system and take practical difficulties into account before issuing permits. There should be no pick-and-choose policy," said some residents living in areas connected by sealed roads.
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