Rules and regulations, especially traffic rules are made to ensure the safety of the people. But unfortunately, most of the people are unaware of the rules and regulations that are necessary to safeguards themselves. It is mandatory to know all these things as an Indian citizen.
A couple of weeks ago, a video on social media like instagram went viral wherein a policeman seems to break the rules and misuse his powers. This viral video with 88K likes has been viewed and shared by a myriad of people not knowing whether or not it is an offence.
For this video, an advocate on his instagram account @ advocatevigneshmuthukumar clarifies the doubt about the video, explaining the traffic rules which must be mandatorily known by Indians. With his video lets analyse a little bit.
Is this really right or wrong?
First, if you look at the video, you can notice that while two bikers were riding on the road, one police officer chased them, batted one of them on his back, and then took away the keys. It seems that either the bike riders might have rode at high speed or that police officer must have misused the influence.
If you ask if the police have the right to assault the public, the answer is no.
The policeman doesn’t possess any right to beat any citizen. The policemen are bound to the Indian constitution and have some boundaries too. No section or no penal code allows police to attack citizens indiscriminately. It is completely a punishable offence. Then can you fight back?
An Advocate Deepak Agnihorti, Mumbai has said that according to the Indian penal code, although you have the right for self-defence, you cannot fight back with the police, otherwise you will end up getting a case filed against you.
Then what to do in case of any potential threats from the police?
To defend yourself you can make a complaint to the DGP (Director General of Police) directly or approach the High courts or Human Rights Commission -says Vignesh Muthukumar.
But there is one significant thing that you need to remember. Although defending yourself against any attack or assault is your basic right, you cannot prevent them from being arrested as it is a crime.
Okay, do they have the right to take away the keys?
Yes.. If you don’t obey them when they ask you to stop, they can do so. The first and foremost job of a policeman is to maintain law and order and to prevent the possible crimes. So if you don’t obey them, they can file a case against you according to Indian Penal Code, under Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by a public servant). After that, you cannot fight for yourself or no Indian section will safeguard you.
Hence it is always suggested to follow the rules and act legally. So that even if you have to face such issues (like in above video), the law will protect you. On the other hand, you find yourself in a serious situation. One thing every Indian citizen should be minding is that rules and government are meant for public protection only.
