Mumbai Traffic Police Apprises HC Of Steps Taken To Curb Corruption & Ensure Transparency [Read Affidavit]

In a PIL filed by retired police constable Sunil Toke alleging rampant corruption in the police department and seeking prosecution of such officers, the Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Amitesh Kumar has filed an affidavit laying down several steps that have already been taken to curb the corruption in the Traffic police department and ensure transparency.

This affidavit was filed before a bench of Justice RM Savant and Justice SS Jadhav. It also highlighted measures being taken to ensure transparency.

In order to prevent motorists from illegal demand of bribe by the police personnel concerned, following steps have been taken:

(a)    Over 5,408 CCTV cameras were installed in Mumbai over the last one year at all major traffic intersections. All these cameras are connected to the Mumbai Traffic Police Control Room and the office of the Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic).

(b)     These cameras are monitored minutely, whenever something suspicious is noticed, immediate action is taken.

(c)     In order to minimise handling of cash by police personnel, a cashless system of collecting fines and penalties through an E-challan system has been introduced on pilot basis from October last year. Payment through credit/debit cards, e-wallets, net banking is being accepted.

(d)    Speed detection violation cameras have been installed at specific routes in the city so that challans are issued by the Traffic police headquarters with photographic evidence to vehicle owners through SMS. As on date, 32 such cameras are functional and over 9.3 lakh challans were issued.

Apart from this, the affidavit stated that those police officers, who have been working at the Traffic Control branch for a long time, have been transferred. The reason behind this move is that these police personnel, who have been in the same department over a long period of time, may have developed vested interests.

Moreover, steps taken to control unauthorised parking were highlighted.

In his PIL, Sunil Toke who had been in service for over three decades, detailed the amount of cash taken as hafta by the police from private business owners.

In case of illegal parking on the roads, it was alleged by the petitioner that the Traffic police take money from five-star hotels for allowing illegal parking on the roads. Even in cases of drunken driving, the petition stated that the police let the guilty off the hook.

Interestingly, the affidavit blamed lack of parking space as the reason for congestion on the roads. It further stated that a request was being made to BMC and others to plan underground pay and park sites across the city on a large scale to resolve this problem.

Finally, a dedicated email-id has been created in order to monitor complaints of illegal gratification against police personnel, and a special enquiry cell has also been constituted.