Mumbai: Interior designer challaned during lockdown despite having stepped out for medical reasons

MUMBAI: An interior designer has written a complaint to the traffic police chief's office after he was challaned during the lockdown while ferrying back his injured sister from a private hospital on Monday. Parvez Shaikh, 29, said in his complaint that he had shown relevant medical papers to the traffic policemen on duty. But they wouldn't pay heed and he received an e-challan through a text on his phone for "disobedience of a police officer."


Parvez's sister, Mehjabeen, 26, injured her eye severely after her mobile phone exploded at her Virar home on Saturday. As the nursing homes in Virar were not well equipped, doctors suggested that she travel to Nair Hospital. But the Nair Hospital has been prioritising

Covid-19

patients and the family decided to take Mehjabeen to a private hospital in

Ghatkopar

in an ambulance. After the first round of treatment, Mehjabeen moved to Parvez's home in Bandra as the railways were shut and she couldn't go back to Virar.

"Her second appointment was on Monday morning and I took her on my motorcycle to Ghatkopar from Bandra. We went via BKC and there were no police checks. On our way back home from the hospital, we came via Sion. A traffic police nakabandi was on and I was asked to halt. I immediately showed them my sister's medical papers and explained the reason she was wearing sunglasses. But the police made a note of my motorcycle's registration number. Later, I was taken aback to receive an e-challan for Rs 500 through a text on my phone," said Parvez. The challan has to be paid within a fortnight, according to the text.

Parvez took to Twitter to narrate his ordeal. "We wouldn't have stepped out if not for medical reasons and shouldn't have been fined," he said. Parvez has also dashed an email to joint commissioner, traffic, Madhukar Pandey's office. "We will inquire into the matter," Pandey told TOI.