New Delhi, Dec. 10 (PTI): The Supreme Court today ruled that red beacon lights can only be used by high dignitaries holding constitutional posts while on duty.

The order is intended to put an end to the misuse of the beacons by politicians and bureaucrats who, the court said, flaunt the lights as a status symbol reflective of the “Raj mentality”.

The apex court also banned private individuals from using sirens in their vehicles and directed the authorities to take punitive action against those doing so.        

However, Orissa High Court had given a similar verdict on the issue in 2010. In September that year, Odisha government issued a notification about misuse of red lights on vehicles and decided to remove such lights from the cars of 586 VIPs.

Accordingly, beacons were removed from the vehicles of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack mayors as well as that of the chairman of state administrative tribunal.

Odisha’s transport secretary G. Mathivathanan said that they had been following the state government’s notification and monitoring its implementation.

There is also nothing in the rulebook to suggest that vehicles fitted with red beacon lights should get preferential treatment.

But policemen see the red light as a symbol of power, something which the Supreme Court said it wants to do away with.

The bench of Justice G.S. Singhvi and Justice C. Nagappan said there has been an “abysmal” failure of the authorities to check misuse of red beacons.

The judges also pulled up the authorities for their failure to prevent misuse of siren for the last 24 years.