If you are found giving lift to strangers than cops can fine you for helping them, yes this same thing happened in Navi Mumbai with Nitin Nair. The 32-year-old man on June 18, found some strangers stranded in rain so he offered to help by giving them a lift in his car, but his kind gesture got him in trouble. He was fined Rs 1,500 and cops also took his license.
Nitin wrote a post on Facebook describing the trouble he faced after giving lift to three strangers, “The police officer then started to write a receipt and asked me to hand over my license to him. I asked him for the reason to which he said ‘It is illegal to give a lift to unknown people’”, he wrote.
He thought the cop is making stories and wants money from him but the cop gave took his license and gave him a receipt and asked Nitin to go to the police station next day, pay the fine, and get the license back.
Even though Nitin was confused he consulted one of his lawyer friend, “I consulted one of my lawyer friends to ensure that the police guys are not taking me for a ride… But the lawyer confirmed that indeed we have a law that makes it illegal to give a lift to an unknown person in a private vehicle..”, he wrote in his post.
“On June 22, I was called to the court at 10 am. I went there at 9.30 AM and they made me sit in the court corridor till 1 pm. I had to stand there as if I was some criminal in front of the judge, with the courtroom filled with lawyers and other people discussing their respective cases. The judge called out my name and I had to accept my mistake and come out of the courtroom. I was fined Rs 2,000 but after multiple requests I eventually paid Rs 1,500,” he said in his post.
While speaking to Mumbai Mirror, Nitin Pawar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) for Navi Mumbai, said, “if any person has good intentions, the law must not be applied in such cases. We must encourage people to help other people in a crisis,” he added.