An Indian businessman, who hit the headlines earlier this month after buying a unique single- digit car number plate for a whopping USD 9 million, has made news again, but for wrong reasons after allegedly parking in a disabled parking space.
Balwinder Sahni bought number plate "D5" for 33 million Dirhams and had said it "will go to one of my Rolls Royces". After a video circulated on social media showing Mr Sahni's D5-branded Rolls-Royce parked in the white rectangle of a disabled bay outside Aspen Tower on Shaikh Zayed Road, police slapped a fine of 1,000 Dirhams and issued four black points to the driver.
However, Mr Sahni has hit out at the accusations, saying he was not parked in the bay.
"The car was not parked in that spot, it was parked far away. I was at a meeting and had many bags carrying heavy catalogues so the driver pulled up for about 30 seconds so we could load the car."
Mr Sahni shared pictures with Khaleej Times - with date marks of 14.41pm on October 22 - showing the security manager of the building posing with the car.
#Dubai D5 number plate sold to Balwinder Sahani for Dh33 million at car plate auction in #UAE @7DAYSUAE pic.twitter.com/58pNxkL68A
— Shoshana Kedem (@B_shosh) October 8, 2016
"This shows that my car was in fact parked in the correct parking bays. I respect the law but people should know the truth. It was just unfortunate that brief moment was videoed and misconstrued to the public," he said.
Mr Sahni added he will not keep quiet when it comes to his rights.
"I actually filed a case against the person who uploaded the video with the police today. A person should not be uploading such videos. My number plate is creating a lot of interest and they are using it in a negative way. It is sad," he said.
Lt Khamis Mattar Al Mazina, Commander-in-Chief of Dubai Police confirmed that police did fine Mr Sahni's driver. He explained the decision was made after watching the video and added "no one is above the law" when it comes to such violations.
During the first six month of this year, Dubai Police has registered 4,215 fines against people incorrectly parked against special needs parking bays and fire exits. Following the installation of modern radars to capture images and videos of cars violating parking conditions, 12,431 traffic violations have been received, the report said.
