Calcutta High Court on Friday said no beacon-fitted vehicle barring an ambulance, fire engine or a police pilot car was entitled to any privilege, robbing police of their prime excuse for not acting against VIP wheels flouting traffic rules.

The division bench of justices Ashim Kumar Roy and Murari Prasad Sreevastav ordered the police to slap cases of impersonation on anyone found misusing a beacon.

That means the mayor of Calcutta can be prosecuted if he uses a beacon outside the Calcutta municipal area. He can’t use a flasher either. The same rules apply to police commissioners (see chart).

Whether the police will implement the order is anybody’s guess but if they do need to draw up a case against an offender, there is no need for a green signal from the government, the court said.

“A person is entitled to a beacon atop his vehicle out of respect to the post he/she represents. It is not meant to exhibit one’s power,” the bench said.

The police are required to slap a case of “cheating by personation” under Section 419 of the IPC on an offender. The charge carries a maximum penalty of three years in jail or fine or both.

In Calcutta, the police rarely, if ever, book a beacon-fitted car for any violation. Even if they do so, sources said, the offender is charged with violating Section 108 (III) of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules. The maximum penalty for this offence is a fine of Rs 100.

“The number of cases for beacon violations is few compared to bookings for other traffic offences. Most of the cases are under the motor vehicles rules. A few are booked under Section 419 of the IPC, but only after the police make sure that no VIP is in that vehicle,” a senior officer of Calcutta traffic police said.

“It is a very difficult task for an officer on the road to stop a car fitted with a red light and ask for documents. You never know who you are stopping,” he added.

The high court had appointed advocate Jayanta Narayan Chatterjee amicus curiae in the case last September after a report submitted by him highlighted the indiscriminate use of beacons in a state where the chief minister voluntarily doesn’t use one.

To his report, Chatterjee appended several documents on the misuse of beacons by even high-ranking government officials, politicians and the police. The documents showed that in several instances, including the attack on Parliament, terrorists had used vehicles fitted with beacons to dodge the cops.

Chatterjee pointed out that he spotted 12 cars with flashers at Alipore’s Bhabani Bhavan. “But there is no dignitary at Bhabani Bhavan who is entitled to use a flasher.” he said.

The division bench of justices Ashim Kumar Roy and Deepak Saha Roy then asked the transport secretary to submit a list of public servants entitled to use the red lights atop their vehicles.

In Calcutta, vehicles fitted with beacons blatantly jump red lights at traffic signals, enter no-entry roads and park in no-parking zones. Nobody dares complain. Not that the police are known to act if someone does. “Just the other day, I got stuck at a signal on the way to work and the car next to me moved on. It had a red light on top. This should stop,” said Madhumita Chatterjee, a bank employee from Tollygunge.

Sabir Ali, who travels through Taratala, recalled an instance of the police going out of their way to allow a beacon-fitted car to pass while the traffic signal showed red. “It is humiliating. Why should they enjoy such a privilege?” he demanded.

Sources in the traffic wing of Calcutta police blamed the ambiguity in beacon rules until Friday’s court order for people misusing the red light.

“It is difficult to confirm on the spot if the person in a beacon-fitted car is a dignitary from another state or a top state government official on the move. Therefore, we don’t take chances,” said a senior officer.

“In any case, it is not always possible for an officer on duty to stop a vehicle and run a check. You never know: the officer might be pulled up by his boss for such an act!”

Officers at police stations across the city said someone lodging a complaint for misuse of the beacon was rare. The only exception in recent times was Anindya Sundar Das, an advocate in the high court.

In December 2012, Das lodged an FIR with Hare Street police station, accusing Barrackpore police commissioner Sanjay Singh of illegally using a beacon with a flasher when he came to the high court. “The Calcutta police commissioner is entitled to use a beacon but without a flasher. If the city police commissioner is not entitled to use a flasher, how can the Barrackpore commissioner use it?” Das had argued.

Would you lodge a complaint now against a beacon-fitted car violating a traffic rule? Tell ttmetro@abpmail.com