Tata Punch owner adds “Sar” and “Ji” on his car to make the word “SarPunch Ji”: Fined by Police

India is a secular country, and everyone is free to follow any religion they like. However, what is not allowed is the public display of their religion or caste with the help of stickers on vehicles. Recently, Yogi Adityanath, the current Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, issued a directive to remove all such stickers from vehicles. However, some people do not understand the directives and continue with these acts. Recently, a Tata Punch driver was fined for breaching this exact directive, and a picture of his Tata Punch with “Sarpanch Ji” and “Gurjar” stickers has been shared online.

A picture of this particular Tata Punch with these uniquely added stickers has been shared on the internet. In the picture, it can be noted that this Punch owner, using the prefix “Sar” and suffix “Ji” in Hindi on his Tata Punch, has created the word “Sarpanch Ji.” This Hindi word means the head of the village. Apart from this, the driver also had a “Gurjar” sticker on the bottom right corner of the micro-SUV’s tailgate.

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Soon after the picture of this particular Tata Punch went viral on the internet, it was reported that the police authorities began their investigation. The Greater Noida traffic police, using the number plate of the vehicle, found the owner. The person identified as Sandeep Bhati was issued a fine of Rs. 500 by the traffic police department for the use of these stickers on his Tata Punch.

CM Yogi Adityanath’s Directive

Following CM Yogi Adityanath’s directions, the UP Police recently began taking steps against vehicles displaying various caste stickers. Earlier in August, CM Yogi Adityanath initiated a campaign to ban the usage of caste-based car badges. According to reports, the CM asked officials to take strict action against individuals breaking traffic laws by putting caste and religious affiliation stickers on their vehicles. CM stated that caste-based stickers or any form of statement relating to caste or religion on cars may distract other drivers or passengers and cause accidents.

Uttar Pradesh Police’s Action

Soon after this directive, the UP Police in Aligarh and other cities undertook a specialized operation, erecting barricades across the city to intercept and inspect such vehicles. During this initiative by the police authorities, numerous vehicle owners received challans amounting to Rs. 2,000 for their non-compliance with the regulations. Similar enforcement campaigns took place in Ghaziabad and Noida as well. According to the police, approximately 2,300 challans were handed out to vehicle owners for violating these guidelines.

The regulation issued by CM Yogi Adityanath specified that any vehicle that displays words or symbols related to caste has to be fined. Some of the words listed in the list of words were “Kshatriya, Yadav, Gurjar, Jat, Brahmin,” and religious identifiers like stickers such as “Hindu, Thakur, 786,” and more. The police are booking the violators under Section 179(1) of the Motor Vehicles (MV) Act.

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