Police Can Act Against Lawyers Misusing Advocate Stickers To Seek Immunity From Traffic Offences: Madras High Court Tells State
The Madras High Court on Tuesday told the State Government that police could take action against lawyers who were using Advocate Stickers to seek immunity from traffic offences.
The bench of Acting Chief Justice R Mahadevan and Justice Mohammed Shaffiq were hearing a plea seeking to implement court orders and Government press release and penalise those who misused the Motor Vehicles Act and used sun control films and stickers on the car windscreens, windshields, window panels etc.
The court remarked that the government should take efforts to implement the orders at the earliest and take strict action against anyone who disobeyed the law.
“Government should implement order at the earliest. Take action from today. Tell officers to not fear anything. Take action against any vehicle which is not complying,” the court told Additional Public Prosecutor Muniapparaj.
The petitioner, S Devadoss Gandhi Wilson, informed the court that lawyers were still using the lawyer sticker on their private vehicle to seek immunity from the traffic offences.
The court made it clear that the police could take action against any vehicle that was disobeying the law including those of advocates using stickers for immunity.
APP Muniapparaj informed the court that if lawyers were given immunity and allowed to use stickers issued by the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, the state would take action accordingly.
However, the bench was not in support of this suggestion and said that if lawyers were given such immunity, the same would be sought by doctors and other professionals in the future.
When the court sought for details of the sticker used by advocates in the state, the association informed the court that its stickers were issued after following due process and verifying the registration certificate with the enrollment numbers.
The court reiterated that the police could take action against any such stickers. The court pointed out that the Supreme Court had already issued orders in this connection and that it was merely asking the State to follow and comply with the orders of the Supreme Court.
“There are multiple orders of the SC. We're just asking you to follow it. We're not expanding the scope. We're not discriminating,” the court said.
The petitioner also informed the court that the main purpose of using Advocate Stickers was for entering the court premises. He suggested that the stickers could be placed under the sunshade and could be shown to the concerned officers at the time of entering the court. He added that unlike officer, who would need the stickers in case of emergencies, lawyers did not require such stickers once they were out of the court.
The court asked the state to file a report within 2 weeks and adjourned the case.
Case Title: S Devadoss Gandhi Wilson v Additional Chief Secretary to Govt of TN and Others
Case No: WP 13324 of 2024