High court seeks response from HP govt over use of hooters

The Himachal Pradesh high court (HC) on Tuesday served a notice to the state government regarding the use of multi-toned horns by ministers, bureaucrats and other dignitaries, in contravention to the Central Motor Vehicle Rules.

After hearing a petition filed by the Bar Association, acting chief justice Dharam  Chand Chaudhary and justice Jyotsana Rewal Dua asked the government to respond to the notice within four weeks.

The petitioners had said the use of multi-toned horns in vehicles other than those permissible under Rule 119 of the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989, was illegal and demanded that the hooters be removed from all state-owned vehicles.

Members of  the High Court Bar Association had discussed the issue in the General House on July 25, 2019 and had thereafter decided to file a petition.

In its petition, the association said multi-toned horns were being blatantly misused “by dignitaries, persons occupying important public positions in the government or the people who assume themselves as important persons in the state contrary to law of land to coerce their way out of traffic after abolition of red lights by the Central Government by repealing the appropriate rule in the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989.”

The petitioners said the use of multi-toned horns not only annoys the public at large but is also a traffic hazard as vehicles carrying important persons have at times been involved in major accidents.

Rule 119 of the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989, specifically prohibits the use of multi-toned horns, sirens except in certain categories of vehicles like ambulances, fire fighting vehicles and construction equipment vehicles,” said senior advocate Rajnish Manikatla.