A vehicle of a vegetable and fruit vendor plying with a press sticker on it created a flutter in Coimbatore. Several social activists say the public can easily be misled by vehicles displaying stickers of the press or those of lawyers and doctors and even the police and have called for immediate action by the authorities.

It was recently that a supermarket Pazhamudir Nilayam vehicle carrying like fruits and vegetables was found to have displayed a press sticker.

Lawyer VP Sarathi told The Covai Post that use of such posters on vehicles used for purposes otherwise was illegal and would mislead people.

The sticker of a doctor on a vehicle is absolutely necessary as people can use their services in case of an emergency.

In cases of parking on court premises, the Bar Association has given stickers to registered lawyers only for identifying the vehicle and other stickers were unnecessary as far as people were concerned.

“The display of such stickers paves the way for abuse law and unjustly influences authorities against taking action in case there is a violation. Policeman will hesitate to take action against a person violating traffic rules if there is a press or a lawyer sticker on the vehicle,” he says.

Activist A Manoj says the Motor Vehicles Act has made it clear that display of press or lawyer or police stickers is against the law.

Press stickers are given to mediapersons of registered news organisations by the district administration and not for all working in such establishments, he adds.

To avoid confusion, police, transport and district administration officials should take against such unlawful sticker display, Manoj asserts.

A senior police personnel said display of police stickers should only be on official vehicles and this was being done only to help people identify it.