Andhaa Kaanoon!

[shadow]

Dear Comrades,
As the IFG fellowship has become a very close & integral part of my life, have started sharing now & then all that I have been doing, hearing, feeling etc.

Here is an incident that I had to face last evening, a mail of which have been sent by me to Mumbai Mirror. I am not a very good writer though but wanted to share this piece with you. Request you to kindly share your views & give feedback on the same.

Hoping it will see the daylight & get printed in its edition & knock some daylights out of these beuracratic buffoons' heads!

Cheers,
Rup





Dear MM,

We have come across laws that are passed & put into action without any thoughts. Here I am quoting one wherein I was a victim of a totally blind, deaf, dumb law that has been passed with no clauses for exceptional cases.

This incident refers to the law of "No sale of loose petrol." To start with, I admit my fault that I pushed my luck too hard eventually landing in a situation where petrol in my car completely dried up & I was stranded at the SV Road Malad junction. With some help from people walking by I pushed my car & parked it at a safe spot. I took an empty bottle & went to the nearby HP petrol pump situated on SV Road in Kandivali (opp Pritam Restaurant). I requested the petrol attendant to give me some petrol in the bottle & the attendant rudely refused saying that it was illlegal to give loose petrol & they will be fined if they did so. Knowing for a fact that he was adhering to the orders & with all due respect, I requested him to consider this as an exception since I couldnt push my car to that distance. Had it been a bike I could have done it, but definitely not with a car. But there was no sympathy shown. At that moment the owner of the station walked in & I approached him & explained the problem. To start with he was not even looking at me as I tried talking to him saying that he could see my photo id or take down my number or keep my business card, if he had any doubts on the intent. He plainly said that he cannot help me & when I asked him as to what can be done, he asked me to get NOC from police stating that the station should give me loose petrol in a bottle. I was speechless & told him that on the grounds of humanity was there any other option. He asked me to hire services of a tow-van & get the car to the petrol pump. By this time I was loosing my cool, but couldnt do a thing as I was responsible for my carelessness of letting the petrol run dry in the car. I once again requested him but to no avail & when I asked him what was the law all about, he did not have an answer & just repeated "its law & we have been told not to give loose petrol - that's it!"

I was really fuming & left to an IOC petrol pump situated near the Shoppers' Stop in Kandivali West. There too the answer was NO. I asked both the stations as to what can one do if he/she is stranded? And they said they dont know. I told them to place themselves in my shoes & the owner did not have an answer saying - tab ki baat tab dekhi jaayegi!" I just left saying "I will pray that you are not placed in such a situation." Again I am reiterating the fact that they were BLINDLY following orders as issued to them & in no situation could they jeopardize their work & hence am not holding them responsible for my plight.

My point is that how can our laws be so frivolously passed without weighing pros & cons of the same. Just because people use loose petrol as petrol-bombs in some part of the country, a sentence is passed on no loose sale of petrol across India?? What if it was a lady in my place & stuck in a similar situation? Maybe she would have got the sympathies of the attendants & got petrol.

In which case, are all men criminals in this society? Do majority of common citizens have to face wrath of the law for the misdeeds of a handful? The problem is our government has always looked at finding an easy way out of the situation instead of combating the roots & wiping them out of the system. There is no right for anyone to exercise DISCRETION! In this case, even if the owner would have found my case genuine, he could have used his discretion. But if he would have done that & got caught, he would have had to pay a heavy price to help someone in distress out.

Are we in a democracy where we were taught - "For the people, of the people, by the people"? To what extent is a common man able to enjoy these rights of living in a democracy? From the times that I have seen, common man has been on receiving end. If something happens in some corner of country, law is passed across the country without giving it a second thought as in this case. They never think on the consequences that the particular order may have on citizens. Am sure the same lawmakers if facing a similar situation would have used their clout to get barrels of loose petrol.

I just wondered the whole of last night & even now as I am mailing that is this the DEMOCRACY that Indians dreamt of while getting freedom from the Britishers? Was this state-of-affairs envisioned while India became one of the largest democratic country in the world where the rights are enjoyed only at top levels and people like us are still treated as under dictatorship? I am not exaggerating a small issue to the extent of raising a question at our fundamental constitution itself. But this incident acted as an eruption to lot of other ridiculous, absurd, illlogical, frivolous & incomprehendable acts, laws, rules, orders that we come across in our daily lives as citizens. I am sure most of you would agree to this ANDHAA KANOON of the country.

I insist that MM takes this as an initiative like numerous others & drive a point that the law enforcement agencies should remove the blind-folds & pass laws which are rational and for the benefit of the citizens of the country & not for their whims & fancies.

"We live under Dictatorship of a Democratic Nation!"


PS: For those who want to know how I managed getting back home - I called my cousins to come on a bike, took petrol out from his bike (which again maybe illlegal thanks to some fancy absurd law), took the car to the same HP station & got a full tank pledging never to repeat the mistake.

[Olly]

In my knowledge, there are cautions issued by the local police, although there may not be a 'law' as such. The Commissioner of Police is empowered to issue such 'directions' which the local police will follow. I know of cases wherein the petrol pump people will refuse giving petrol in a bottle, but will ask you to get a decanter (can) or a small tin/barrel.

This is the way they give diesel too - for gensets etc.

So don't get offended... this is their way of 'preventing crime'... there are one hundred areas where such stup#d directions are enforced. Gotta live with them...

[msandhu]

I am not sure if there is a law as such. We had been buying diesel ( for tractors and other farming equipment) in special containers that are meant for carrying petrol or diesel.
It can be dangerous to carry petrol in ordinary plastic bottles.
In India I once put petrol in a plastic bottle and in an hours or so the bottle melted and the petrol spilled everywhere.
Cheers
Mandeep

[shooter]

dear shadow, though i empathise with u (having been in a similarsituation 3 times!!), i still agree with the owners.
in view of the recent events, their parania is justified.
im not saying u look like a terrorist. but what if u were a reporter heading a sting operation?

u hav to remember, a lot of stings begin as a request for help.

i know its a caution not a law, but imagine the "fine" they would hav t pay the police.

ab tak to CI sahab ke beta biwi hi free petrol letel the. ab to unka saala, saley ka dost, dost ka beta...... sab
bro abhi "hawa kharab hai".
u were caught at a wrong time.

[shadow]

Dear Comrades,
That's why I am not holding the owners responsible at all. They were strictly adhering to 'directions or cautions' as you would call them. But while doing so one should consider the pros & cons have show some leniancy somewhere. And if such diktat is passed, in a democracy it should apply equally to all! Yes, carrying petrol in a plastic bottle is hazardous, but I did request them to give it to me in a canter which was lying there. They still refused.

And if I wouldnt have faced it, my feeling wouldnt have been as strong as it is just now. It has actually put me in a place to think as to how many more such diktats, cautions, directions are passed blindly by the system.
Olly, you are right we just may have to live with. However this was an occasion where I thought would raise a voice. However dont think it reached the right ears, as the grievance has still not got published. Didnt really expect it though.

Cheers,
Rup

[Anand]

Hello Shadow,
I sympathise with you, in fact there is too much discretion with the authorities who have been placed in position to "Rule" us rather than "serve' us. The "rules/directions/cautions" are in place for ease of governance and control. The problems faced by individuals are not taken into consideration so long as the general public at large is not majorly inconvenienced.

Unless there is a group/society/party who takes it up, a cause will remain just that, a cause. Most of these rules and regulations are so discretionary that there is a great scope for administrative misuse causing inequality in excercise and implementation of the law. The ease with which a G.O can be passed nowadays, officers and those in power seem to make up rules as they go along.

Regards,
Anand

[shadowphaxone]

Who makes these stupid laws????...........i haven't had such a problem in my place.......any way .....I'm going to try it soon by going to a petrol pump and asking for petrol in a bottle.......will post the results.