Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday sought to play down BJP-ruled Gujarat drastically cutting fines for traffic violations, saying the matter was in the concurrent list and states were free to take their own decision.
On Tuesday, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani announced a drastic cut ranging from Rs 1,000 to Rs 10,000 in some cases for penalties for traffic violations, which were envisaged under the amended Motor Vehicles Act that came into effect from September.
"First of all, the Motor Vehicles Act is in concurrent list. Centre and state governments have the right to make laws in this regard...and they'll (states) take decision what they consider is appropriate," Gadkari said.
He was responding to a query on how he viewed BJP-ruled Gujarat taking steps contrary to what the Centre has done with regards to penalties prescribed under the amended law.
Opposition-ruled states like Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal have also refused to implement the new law.
Speaking at the launch of BS-VI compliant scooter Activa 125 by Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India here, the minister further said, "If they (states) want to reduce the fines let them but lives of people should be saved and there should be less accidents. There has to be awareness over this."
Stressing that people will ultimately understand, Gadkari said, "It was not the intention of the government to earn revenue by imposing heavy fines."
Within a few days of implementation, there has been a lot of improvement, he said adding, "One of the biggest improvements is accidents, which have come down."