A complaint has been submitted to the Transport Commissioner against the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) for using beacons on their official vehicles.
Active Citizens Network, an organisation dealing with Right to Information, said that Mayor B.S. Sathyanarayana and Deputy Mayor Indira have been using beacons on their vehicles in violation of the Supreme Court order.
Members of the network, comprising K.C. Ramamurthy, S.V. Rajendra Singh Babu, T. Ramu and B.H. Veeresh also submitted a copy of the complaint to BBMP Commissioner M. Lakshminarayana. They demanded seizure of the two vehicles by the Transport Department and appropriate legal action against both the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor.
SC directive
Following the directions of the Supreme Court, the State government had specified officials entitled to use beacons on their official vehicles. According to the notification issued by the Transport Department, the Governor of the State, the Chief Minister and Ministers of Council, the chairman of the Legislative Council, the Speaker of the State Legislative Assembly, the Chief Justice and judges of the High Court of Karnataka are eligible to use red beacons on their official vehicles.
The notification comes under Rule 108 of the Central Motor Vehicles Act, 1989, that empowers the State to specify the dignitaries and the vehicles on which the lights can be used, official sources told The Hindu . The notification was issued on June 7, 2013, following rampant misuse of those lights.
The Supreme Court expressed indignation over such misuse. The department has filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court stating that it had listed dignitaries who could use VIP red lights on their official vehicles.
