SC bans use of tinted glass beyond permissible limits

The Supreme Court on Friday banned the use of tinted glass, restricting visions beyond permissible limit as fixed under the Motor Vehicles Act, in vehicles.

A bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia made it clear that tinted glass can be used in vehicles of government officials for security purposes and asked state governments to frame guidelines regarding this.

The Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989, say the glasses of windscreen and rear windows of vehicles should have a visual light transmission of 70 percent and for side windows it
should be at least 50 percent.

The court passed the order on a plea seeking complete ban on use of dark films on car windows, including the vehicles used by VVIPs, alleging that many crimes in cities were committed by people using such cars with tinted windows.

The petitioner, Avishek Goenka, had contended that he had 25 RTI query replies from various police stations to back his claim and many crimes, including sexual assault on women, were committed by offenders who used cars with tinted glasses to evade the public gaze and conceal their identity.