Strictly implement the ban on tinted glasses

Like the red and green beacons on cars announcing the special status of the travellers and ensuring a speedy passage while the others are held up in traffic jams, tinted car windows are intended to distinguish those inside the vehicle from the ordinary mortals outside. They also carry the suggestion that the rich and famous inside do not want to be bothered by the prying eyes of inquisitive passers-by travelling on foot or in other vehicles. Instead, the VIPs would like to remain immersed in their own thoughts or in conversation or going through a file.

However, such an emphasis on exclusiveness carries a danger. For one, the tinted glasses can hide a terrorist or a crook escaping from or going to a scene of crime. For another, they can enable the occupants to get away after an accident if the police are remiss in noting the vehicle’s registration number. It is for reasons such as these that the Supreme Court has long decreed that the tinted glasses must be done away with because their purpose is not to keep out the sun’s glare but to massage the vanity of the vehicle owners.

Yet, the continuing refusal to abide by the judicial diktat is an indication of how influential are the owners. It is obvious that the police either lack the gumption to tell them to dispense with the tinted glasses or are shooed away with a frown or a bribe if they do. It is time, though, that the Supreme Court takes a firmer view of this persistent dereliction of duty by the law-enforcing agencies and hold them guilty of the contempt of court if the high and mighty are allowed to flaunt their defiance. Once the policemen show at least one VIP that no one is above the law by removing the tinted glasses along with imposing a hefty fine, the others are bound to fall in line for, like all bullies, they are aware of the grave consequences of crossing the line.