A Mahindra Scorpio with the army fatigue colour was stopped in Indore during a regular checking on Wednesday. The police spotted the vehicle at the Tejaji Nagar police station. The vehicle belonged to a couple who operates an adventure group.
Tejaji Nagar police station in-charge RD Kanwa said that they had no prior information on the vehicle. The personnel at the checkpoint spotted the vehicle and stopped the couple for questioning. The cops saw that a youngster was driving the vehicle and no one was wearing an army uniform. His companion was on the co-driver seat.
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The police thoroughly checked the ID cards of the couple and then verified the documents of the vehicle too. The youngsters were residents of Bhopal City and came to Indore with an adventure group. They could not show any permission to have the army fatigue print on the vehicle.
Army colour not allowed on civilian vehicles
In India, the olive-green colour and the army fatigue patterns are exclusively reserved for the use of armed forces. Civilian vehicles do not have permission to use these colours. The MV Act does not allow the use of these colours on civilian vehicles for security reasons.
Across India, army colours are banned to use in civilian vehicles. However, most people do not know about this rule and they anyway get a wrap or get the vehicle painted in these colours. We are not sure if the Mahindra Scorpio stopped in Indore had a wrap or it was permanent paint.
While the wraps are temporary, they fall in a grey area of the rule. Because they are not permanent, most police officers do not issue a challan to them. However, there is no mention of this rule in the lawbooks so police can issue a challan too. Since it is illegal to change the colour of the vehicle in India without getting an RTO approval, one cannot permanently paint the vehicle with a different colour other than the stock.
The couple who was travelling the Scorpio did not know about this rule and they apologised to the policemen present at the spot. They also promised to remove the army fatigue pattern from the vehicle. The cops did not issue a challan. Instead, they gave a warning to the youngsters and let them go from the spot as per FreePressJournal.
Army colours are sold internationally
Manufacturers like Royal Enfield offer such Battle Green colour and paint them in the Indian factory. However, since these products cannot sell in the Indian market, Royal Enfield exports them to the international markets including Europe.
In India, manufacturers like Mahindra, Jawa and Jeep do offer a shade of olive-green colour on their stock vehicles. However, these colours are pre-approved by the government authorities to sell in the market, which is why they can be sold. Also, these shades are a bit different from the olive-green colour used by the armed forces.
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