The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which replaces the Indian Penal Code, has issued a ‘Chakka Jam’ Law, a provision that attracts punishment of up to 10 years for drivers.
The Chakka Jam law according to Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) states that drivers who cause a serious road accident by negligent driving and run away without informing the police or any official from the administration can be jailed for 10 years and will have to pay a hefty fine of INR 7 lakhs. However, they will not be penalized if they rush the victim to the hospital and report the accident.
As soon as this law was noticed by the drivers, it faced opposition. Several highways across the country daw massive jams on the first day of the New Year as truck drivers blocked roads in protest against the law passed by BNS.
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Transporters claim that accidents are not intentional and the rigorous imprisonment of 10 years and a hefty fine of 7 lakh INR is not justified.
In the Chhattisgarh capital, Raipur, bus drivers staged a demonstration against the new central law. With the buses anchored in their sheds, regular commuters and interstate passengers are currently bearing the brunt of protests.
Truck drivers are staging ‘rasta roko’ protests across the country. In one particular state Maharashtra, there was an observed shortage of fuel at some places. Some petrol pumps in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district have already stopped functioning, an office-bearer of the petroleum dealers association said.
The Mehsana-Ambaji highway in Mehsana and Ahmedabad-Indore highway in Kheda, Gujarat were blocked for some time after protesters atrociously placed burning tyres on the routes. A video showing a long queue of parked trucks on the Ahmedabad-Vadodara highway near Kanera village in Kheda was widely circulated on social media, to commute the message to avoid the route due to a 10-kilometre traffic jam, which was a result of the ‘rasta roko’ protest.
