Some Laws which Indians commonly violate everyday Knowingly or Unknowingly
Law is the fundamental way in which a nation-state survives. But often some of these laws are ignored both by those who implement these laws and those who are bound to follow them. They are as follows:
Walking and crossing the railway tracks
This is something that is pretty common across railway lines across India. Whether it be crossing at the railway stations or walking on tracks outside the stations as well. But as expected, trespassing on railway property is a punishable offence under Section 147 of the Railways Act, 1989. Building bridges and escalators while completely ignoring the basic movement of people is to be blamed here. Similarly, entering railway platforms without a ticket is not allowed. Now you can book tickets using the Rail One App.
Jay Walking
Jaywalking is a term unfamiliar to many but is very common in India and everyone ha explicitly done it. This means that you do not use designated zebra crossings for crossing the road. This is common in India due to the unscientific design of our cities and also how people find it very difficult to cross on the zebra crossings. It is not explicitly included as an offence in Indian law, but it is covered under the broader term ‘obstruction of traffic' in state and motor vehicle laws. Pedestrians can be booked under these laws if their actions cause disruptions to traffic.
Digital Laws
May sound very complicated for people to violate, but there are smaller offences which people continue to commit knowingly. This includes downloading pirated movies, using copyrighted content such as photographs/images/music without permission and, most importantly, plagiarism, such as reproducing someone else's work without attribution. The basic challenge is that this requires too much effort to do it everytime and more often acknowledging it.
Damaging Public Property
Public property belongs to the public but who pays for it and who maintains it? It is the government on behalf of the public or the people. Does this mean that people can misuse it or do damage to it? Definetely, not. The nationwide law Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984 prohibts any damage, destruction or misuse to public property. People continuously use a lot of the facilities but also end up damaging them- Writing or carving names on public walls and monuments, breaking benches, streetlights or other municipal infrastructure. damaging bus or railway seats, etc. These are petty issues, not serious offences. Also most of them are just a direct product of the overuse, old equipment and lack of proper maintainance from the authorities. Not every instance of misuse or minor damage automatically constitutes an offence but still it is equally the duty of public also to use them responsibly and understanding that its equally others as it is yours. Also that everything is built through the tax payer's money. As always mentioned, the responsibilty lies in both
Littering
Throwing a plastic wrapper, bottle, cigarette, food packets, or other forms of bulk waste is very common across the breadth and length of the country. This is both an example of bad social behaviour as well as a violation of some local laws. The important point to note is that there is no single nationwide "anti-littering law" with one uniform penalty applicable everywhere. Local authorities are also empowered to frame and enforce appropriate bye-laws regarding cleanliness laws. This is where initiatives such as Swachh Bharat Abhiyan step in to change the social behaviour, rather than trying to impose penalties won't help. Here also this is a behavioural issue also, we equally have to demand the responsibility from the government's side to keep the surroundings.
Way Ahead
Abiding by law is not just the duty of lawmakers but also of the enforcers and of the public. We need to move in a two-way method here- firstly, awareness and legal enforcement, and secondly, not to legally codify everything, especially those which may simply be considered bad manners and some impractical. Government also has its ow share of the responsibilties such as keeping our country clean, building appropriate infrastructure and using the facilities for proper legal awareness.
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