Team Herald
PANJIM: The Goa Police Department by another order on Wednesday stated that henceforth only officers of the rank of Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) and above shall issue motor vehicle challans.
Under no circumstances officers below the rank of ASI shall stop any vehicle for motor vehicle checking in the State. All in-charges have been asked to ensure compliance, states the order issued by SP (Traffic) Shekhar Prabhudesai.
Earlier on July 14, DGP Jaspal Singh had directed that traffic violators should be challaned only by concerned DySPs/SDPOs and Police Inspectors (PIs) strictly. No other police personnel were permitted for this purpose.
But now the order has been modified and officers of the rank of ASI and above have been authorised to issue motor vehicle challans.
With this, all the documents of the defaulter motorists will now be checked by the officer of the rank of ASI and above.
Earlier, PIs and DySP were directed to check the documents following complaints against traffic police stopping vehicles needlessly and unnecessarily for the want of checking of requisite documentations of the vehicles. However, vehicles will be stopped only if there is visible traffic violation, SP Prabhudesai said.
Director General of Police Jaspal Singh has instructed the Traffic Police to impose penalty on ‘visible violations’ only and refrain from harassing tourists. His instructions had come a day after the Opposition members had questioned harassment to tourists driving rental vehicles in the State.
Police are for the services of general public and should be the problem solver. The main role of Traffic Police is to monitor the traffic flow and focus on ensuring that traffic goes smoothly, the order had stated.
The DGP has also directed that no nakas be deployed on highways unless authorised by SP (Traffic). Similarly, vehicles should not be stopped for paper checking, traffic signals be reviewed and their timings should be adjusted according to the intensity of traffic. So also, faulty signals may be rectified.
