- I Paid A Bribe
- 8 years ago
- 3027 views
Had to pay a bribe but the policeman was relatively considerate
- Police
- Traffic Violations
- Paid INR 600
I took a left turn from the outer circle in Connaught PLace towards Minto Road on the 7th of Sep 2016 around 4 pm when a traffic cop stopped me. He claimed that I had skipped a traffic light, although I am pretty sure that I had not. There were tons of cars that came after me, but only I was stopped. And specially when the primary business of Delhi Traffic Police is to collect bribe, I doubt whether their testimony regarding whether someone jumped a light or not can be reliable. Unfortunately, I couldn't have argued about that with him there. I had no option but to comply. First, I was told that my DL would be confiscated for three months and that I will have to pay a fine of 11 bucks. After some resistance, I realized how futile the exercise was and agreed to the punishment (I was feeling tired and just wanted to reach home and rest). After showing him all my papers and talking a ton about random stuff, he suggested that I give him 600 bucks and he won't give me a receipt in return. To me also, it felt like a better outcome than surrendering my licence for 3 months, so I am equally at fault, but I just can't believe that I skipped that light. Had he had some proof, I would have gladly agreed to the punishment. Also, the law requiring the DL to be surrendered for 3 months seems highly impractical and just a mechanism for the traffic police to extract greater bribe money. Policy makers also need to keep things in mind, unless this was their plan all along. And sorry, but in all this hoopla, I was not able to get the name of the officer or his designation, just that he had sort of a Haryanvi accent. I just wanted to share my story. The police guy was relatively considerate and friendly - that didn't stop him from taking a bribe though. The primary fault here, I think, is of the law being what it is, and if my example can maybe help get it better, that would be great.