Tinted glass row reaches Supreme Court, demands reply from Centre

To stop criminals from misuing vehicle for crimes, the Supreme Court on Monday sought a response from the Centre on a petition seeking a ban on the use of tinted glass.

A bench headed by Chief Justice SH Kapadia agreed to hear the PIL which sought the ban said "multiple instances of rape and molestation have been reported in cars with tinted glasses and more specifically in the national capital too, which has the best police allocation as a percentage of population in the nation".

The petitioner, Abhishekh Goenka, contended criminals would be easily identified if there is no tinted glass and the security of the country, along with the right to life of the citizens, would be guaranteed.

The court, after hearing the contention, issued a notice to the Centre asking it to file its response by the next date of hearing.

Earlier in 2007, the Delhi high court also put a ban on use of tinted glass film on windscreens and windowpanes of cars and said that the permissible visibility for windscreens under the Act is 70 per cent while for the windowpanes it is 50 per cent.

The earlier order had come on public interest litigation by Saraswati Pillai, president of the South Delhi Housewives’ Association, seeking effective implementation of the provisions regulating the use of the film by car owners in the Capital.