[supremeBaleno]

Cops at Kollam (KL) seem to be taking action against sun-films. My sister was stopped by cops at Kollam (KL) couple weeks ago and asked to remove the films - they did not fine her though. So, out went the dark film installed a year or so ago by BIL.

[naveen.raju]

I have been caught! . No fine, cops just warned me. Asked me to bring the car to the station after removing the films to verify it. Decided to get it removed from the RTO camp. To my surprise, the camp was looking like a service station. It was crowded (Beyond words). Since they are completely booked for tomorrow, they gave me slot on Saturday. This camp was almost empty last weekend.

I asked the cop the details and he said that tomorrow is the last date to remove the films. From next week they will start taking strict actions.

Also said they will check for cars with films in the coming days strictly and all major spots in Cochin and also Kerala will be covered exclusively for this.

[lurker]

they want to do major damage before the Supreme Court opens in July and an appeal is filed against the verdict.

[su48]

I have eventually removed it for some peace of mind. I was always scared that the police will catch me someday. Hence, I got the removal guys number from a friend and he came to my house to remove the same for a charge of Rs. 300. Some peace of mind at last! I don't have to watch out for those cops now!

[vijay_k]

Guys any update from Bangalore?
I had grounded my car for quite some time and finally took it out today (because I missed my company transport) but found that no cops were checking for sunfilms. In fact I have seen quite a few Mahindra Bolero's and one white Scorpio with Police sticker on it having darkest possible sunfilms on it roaming around freely from the day SC came out with this stupid verdict. BTW there is one bolero with police sticker which I see almost every day on my way to office having the darkest film possible, it’s like they have painted black colour on all the windows and is still roaming around freely.
I think BTP has stopped checking for sunfilms, again I am not sure but lately I have not seen anyone being pulled over for sunfilms, even some of my friends who commute daily on their cars having sunfilms have never been caught by the cops.

Vijay

[.sourov]

I have never seen any BTP stopping any car for sunflims atleast on by route to office via IRR. My car has 50percent vlt sunflims.
But the number of cars with sunflims have reduced a lot in Bangalore, so I think BTP feels their job is done.

[vijay_k]

Here is a short video to understand how good our traffic cops are...

Guys if you don’t understand tamil then make sure that you see this video in full screen so that you can read the subtitles. At least half of this video is true and this is what our traffic cops are…

Dharmam - Tamil Short film (With English subtitles) - YouTube

what I feel is, all cops need a reason to make money, because they have paid a huge sum to get that designation or a good station where they can earn good money.

If this is not enough there is always Supreme Court or High court to help them make money, for example the SC verdict of banning sunfilms which is just another reason, like wise there are "n" number of verdics which are meaning less and a reason for the cops to mint money.

Guys its high time we change this.

Vijay

[supertinu]

I absolutely donot see any drive in Bangalore to fine the cars with sun films. I had grounded one of my cars and removed films on the 2nd one which does more city rounds. Recently this week i drove my car with sun films around quite a bit in the city both during peak and off peak hours. Areas were marathahalli ORR, old madras road, old airport rd. Didnt get stopped even once. Makes me wonder I probably shouldnt have removed on my 2nd car as well . However I would give credit to all the good citizens as I see majority of the cars without sun films now.

Btw I wonder if this means booming business for sunfilm companies now. ONce the effect fades off people will again start planning for installing sun films, even I am considering doing that after 6 months or so.

[indian21r]

My reaction, I will not remove it unless forced too. Faced the issue while traveling from Hyderabad to Kashmir. After we entered Punjab Cops, stopped and asked us to remove them on the spot or face fines in Amritsar. Opted to remove as we may face issues in Kashmir or Delhi. That took a big toll on the AC with north Indian heat.

Good that I removed them as clear windows allowed us to get proper view of Kashmir. Looking through filmed glass would not do justice at all to nature.

Surprisingly there was no drive in Delhi for films. Have seen a lot of cars with various shades of films.

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by indian21r

Surprisingly there was no drive in Delhi for films. Have seen a lot of cars with various shades of films.

Most of the cars have already been fined in Delhi. I was thinking that the drive is over now and Cops have got bored. So was thinking of taking out my Altis after a month ( yes its been grounded). But at the last moment decided to wait another week and took out Sunny which is without films. And felt really lucky since on the very first main road the cops had stopped 4 cars and had barricades on. It was painful to see them ripping of those films. 2 of the 4 cars had light films only with VLT approximately near the 50% mark.

I am just waiting for the PIL to get filed now asap and things go back to normal.

[Zenster99]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

Most of the cars have already been fined in Delhi. I was thinking that the drive is over now and Cops have got bored. So was thinking of taking out my Altis after a month ( yes its been grounded). But at the last moment decided to wait another week and took out Sunny which is without films. And felt really lucky since on the very first main road the cops had stopped 4 cars and had barricades on. It was painful to see them ripping of those films. 2 of the 4 cars had light films only with VLT approximately near the 50% mark.

I am just waiting for the PIL to get filed now asap and things go back to normal.

Wow, do they actually rip the film off? I've never seen that happen in Delhi, have seen the usual "negotiation" with the cop on how much to bribe, etc, but haven't ever seen them actually rip off the film in front of me - painful is right!

Out of curiosity, did you get sun film installed on your Altis, or is factory fitted? I'm sort of thinking the latter case, in which case the cops are powerless to do anything, but just wondering.

I don't particularly agree with the court's judgement on this one - the reasoning seems to be that the crime rate will drop, but I somehow don't think that'll happen. Most of the times the crimes occur at night and the cops don't even check the vehicles the crimes are occurring in - there've been cases of said vehicles speeding right past the check posts (and right past the sleepy or drunk cops manning these posts). It'll take more than banning sun film to stop that type of thing (thats an entire new topic altogether) - and why are "VIP's" treated differently than the public on this?

As for me, tried responding to the poll, but I seem to be one of the very rare ones with NO sun film on my car - which isn't mentioned as an option in the poll either, and probably rightly so. I've actually wanted to get the film put on the windows a lot of times, pretty much so the A/C can function better, but my wife dissuaded me from doing so (smart girl, as hindsight would have it).

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by Zenster99

Out of curiosity, did you get sun film installed on your Altis, or is factory fitted? I'm sort of thinking the latter case, in which case the cops are powerless to do anything, but just wondering.

Yup got Vkool all around. For the first time I paid so much money for sunfilms and hence the concern over the ruling. My Innova has got simple aftermarket tints and I am least bothered about it. Infact its been going around everyday since the ruling and never been stopped even once. Generally the cops are now stopping cars with only dark tints. But then you never know when you may encounter a cop who had a morning fight with his wife and decides to vent it all out on your car. 15k is too big an amount for me to gamble upon.

[StarrySky]

Originally Posted by vijay_k

what I feel is, all cops need a reason to make money, because they have paid a huge sum to get that designation or a good station where they can earn good money.

I see no reason to blame the cops for trying to enforce a court verdict. In fact, the police have given more than a months' time for sunfilm removal, although the court gave only a weeks' notice or so.

Everyone who is not following the Supreme Court verdict on sunfilms is asking for trouble/fine, so why blame the police for enforcing the fine? Why not just follow the rule instead, so that cops have one less reason to stop you?

Originally Posted by drmohitg

I am sorry but I do not agree with that. Everyone including the cops know that this judgement is flawed and will be challenged in the court. But due to holidays its getting delayed.

As long as the rule is there and there is no stay on the court verdict, the police are well within their rights to enforce the rule. If you feel the judgement is flawed, you are free to approach the court. Don't blame the messenger (cops). Another point is that while the judgement may be challenged in court, the result of such a petition is far from certain.

Originally Posted by drmohitg

There are numerous rules in the rule book which are not followed on our roads. So please do not idolize them.

I'm not trying to idolize anybody. I agree that car-owners are probably a soft-target for police, especially with the sunfilm verdict. But, as I said before, they are only enforcing a court verdict. They haven't made the law up themselves to collect fines. Asking the cops to stop other crimes before enforcing this rule is just misplaced anger because people don't like the sunfilm verdict.

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by StarrySky

I see no reason to blame the cops for trying to enforce a court verdict. In fact, the police have given more than a months' time for sunfilm removal, although the court gave only a weeks' notice or so.

Everyone who is not following the Supreme Court verdict on sunfilms is asking for trouble/fine, so why blame the police for enforcing the fine? Why not just follow the rule instead, so that cops have one less reason to stop you?

I am sorry but I do not agree with that. Everyone including the cops know that this judgement is flawed and will be challenged in the court. But due to holidays its getting delayed. There are numerous rules in the rule book which are not followed on our roads. Some of them being:
1. The films with less then 50% VLT.
2. Bull bars.
3. Faulty number plates
4. Cars with defective/broken tail lights

This list can grow for as long as you want. But the cops never take any action against all such drivers. But here they found a simple and easy excuse to harass the common man and make a quick fortune for themselves. And hence the swiftness with which they are acting. If they really were so sincere then there wouldn't be a problem in the first place since the films with VLT less than 50% would not be in circulation. So please do not idolize them. They could have easily gone ahead and banned the sale of such films or challaned such cars. But they don't. Its very similar to saying that we have anti-piracy laws and the cops would take strict action against any one selling pirated stuff. Every kid in Delhi knows that you will get any pirated book/cd/dvd/games in palika bazaar. Don't our innocent cops know about it?

[StarrySky]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

Its very similar to saying that we have anti-piracy laws and the cops would take strict action against any one selling pirated stuff. Every kid in Delhi knows that you will get any pirated book/cd/dvd/games in palika bazaar. Don't our innocent cops know about it?

I wanted to edit this into the earlier post, but the edit window expired.

Piracy laws are a good example. Common man "gains" from piracy - by not having to pay to watch the latest movies, download latest songs or software. How many common men want the cops to really stop piracy? Sunfilm verdict on the other hand, pinches the pocket of the common man (especially those who have had/will have to remove films). Hence it is being made out to be a law which attempts to make life miserable for the common man.