Becoming the voice of a citizen against arbitrary action of BBMP authorities, Bangalore

Note: Names of the People are Changed due to Privacy Concern and Organisation Policy.

How many times have you been fined in the past one and half years due to improper wearing of a mask? Is it your fault, or accidentally your mask just slid your face in traffic or while driving?  How many times have you, like an everyday citizen you have felt that you were fined inappropriately? 

Our team members from Riseup for Rights have encountered a situation in the Kengeri locality where the BBMP Marshal authorities tried to impose a fine recklessly on a woman. That woman was riding a pavilion with fruit, and her mask was just slid down a bit from her face. 

Our organization has become the voice of that woman who was not vocal enough about her rights. People have gathered around, and the Kengeri Police came to the spot. We were asked to go to the police station. The BBMP Marshal was also allowed to record our conversation in the police station, which was illegal. We have minded the police authorities about their duties. However, Police haven't taken any action against BBMP Marshal. The police and BBMP Marshal powers are derived from the same source, i.e., the state.

We have paid the fine on behalf of the women as proof of record and lodged a case against that BBMP marshal for inappropriately extracting a penalty from a regular citizen and illegally recording our conversation. We have highlighted the issue to the commissioner, and later action was taken against the BBMP marshal. They gave us an apology letter, and, from then, BBMP marshals reduced collecting fines for masks. Later stage, the Police came to a similar effect.

We won't tolerate injustice to the Public. So our team wholly followed up and took necessary action against them throughout. And we strive for doing justice.