SC upholds ban on tint films; review petitions rejected

MANGALORE: The Supreme Court on Friday rejected the impleading applications requesting modification of the judgment pertaining to the ban on use of the tint films on four wheelers, dashing the hopes of car owners and manufacturers for a favourable judgment.
The order was pronounced by Justice Swatanter Kumar saying that the earlier order shall continue, refusing to entertain the review petitions.
Advocate PP Hegde who filed the petitions on behalf of Mangalore-based Car Owners and Consumers' Association (COCA) said, "we do not know on what grounds the petitions were rejected. We will go ahead with other available options after we read the judgment in full,'' he added.
Two more options are available to the COCA. The first is requesting the Chief Justice toconstitute larger bench to hear the appeal. The other is to approach the Centre to frame proper rules under the Motor Vehicle Act (MVA) which allow usage of tint films with visual light transmission (VLT) limit of 70% for the front and rear windshields and 50% for the side windows.
COCA President Mukesh Hegde said: We will not keep quiet. It's a genuine cause. Now the heat is bearable due to prevailing weather conditions. In summer it will be unbearable.''
The Court in April this year banned use of tinted films of any density or darknessbased on a PIL filed by Avishek Goenka, who complained that cars with black film on window panes were being increasingly used for crimes, including sexual assault of women.