Ahmedabad: Vehicle ‘illegally’ towed away from riverfront

AHMEDABAD: Maninagar resident Pradeep Desai successfully fought a five-month legal battle to prove that towing of vehicles from the Sabarmati riverfront is not legal because no areas have been notified as ‘No Parking’ zones on either side of the river.
His tenacity not to succumb to unlawful police pressure was such that he let his two-wheeler rust at Vasna police station for five months. Desai dragged city police to the Gujarat high court to get his vehicle back, which had been impounded by traffic police after a private towing vehicle seized it from the riverfront. The HC observed that Desai’s vehicle was impounded by police unlawfully and ordered its release, said Desai’s advocate, Kaivan Dastoor.
According to case details, on January 6, Desai was driving down the riverfront road for some business purpose and stopped by to attend a phone call. He parked the scooter in front of the flower garden and while he was talking on the phone, a towing van arrived and insisted on seizing the two-wheeler.
Desai protested, but lost the vehicle to the team of private persons contracted for towing. Desai dialled the police emergency number, but was told to settle the matter with traffic police. A day later, Desai filed a complaint of loot at Riverfront West police station. His complaint was forwarded to M-division police station, and was closed ultimately.
On the other hand, traffic police insisted that Desai pay Rs 750 fine for parking in a ‘No Parking Zone’ and get his vehicle back but refused to issue a challan for the seizure from the riverfront. He refused to pay and decided to take the issue to the high court.
On January 18, Desai approached the HC and demanded possession of his vehicle. He also received information under the Right to Information Act (RTI) from the Sabarmati Riverfront Development Corporation Ltd and the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation that no area on either side of the Riverfront has been notified as a ‘No Parking’ zone and they have not put up any signage to this effect.
Before the HC, the traffic police filed an affidavit and claimed that Desai had parked his vehicle in a ‘No Parking’ zone and hence his vehicle was towed away. To counter the traffic police’s claim, Desai placed the information received under RTI showing there is no such ‘No Parking’ zone notified by the authorities.
After hearing this case, Justice Gita Gopi observed that the vehicle was in “unlawful” custody and ordered traffic police to release it immediately.