President Pratibha Patil, not only delayed her arrival but also issued several instructions to her personnel to ensure minimal hindrance to the common public.
Observations made by Bombay high court judges while hearing a public interest litigation in February seem to have reached the right ears. President Pratibha Patil, who is in the city to watch the World Cup final between India and Sri Lanka on Saturday, not only delayed her arrival but also issued several instructions to her personnel to ensure minimal hindrance to the common public.
The petition was filed by the Bombay Bar Association, seeking implementation of traffic rules in the city. The state government had told the HC that dignitaries, including the president, were provided VVIP facilities as per the threat perception. Traffic signals were monitored to ensure their safety.
Government pleader DA Nalawade told the court that this was done mainly for dignitaries covered by the Special Protection Group. The list includes the president, the vice president, the prime minister and certain heads of state.
The judges had observed that the court had no objection to providing special facilities in view of the threat perception but wondered: “Why can’t these dignitaries, who have threat perception, make arrangements in such a manner that the common man does not suffer? Why does the president of India arrive in the city during peak-hour traffic and why not when there is less traffic?” justice Deshmukh had wondered aloud.
He had also asked why the dignitaries cannot think about it. “You can give all the facilities when there is less traffic and minimum inconvenience is caused to the public,” justice Deshmukh said.
The president seems to have taken the observations in the right spirit, as she delayed her arrival in the city to 9pm, much after the peak-hour traffic is over. “We have also asked our officials to move in a smaller convoy, comprising larger vehicles [minibuses, etc]. The police have been instructed to hold off the traffic for only five minutes before and after her road movement,” a senior official from the president’s office told DNA.
The official also said that the president had issued instructions and changed her schedule in view of the reports over inconvenience caused to the general public. “The practice is being followed across the country now,” the official said.
Following the president’s voluntary intervention, the only thing that remains to be seen is if the government will provide choppers for the VVIP’s movement. It was also one of the many suggestions made by the HC.
With inputs by Rosy Sequeira
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