Shimla, Jan 11 (IANS) Irked over illegal parking of tourist vehicles in Shimla’s auto-free zones on New Year’s Eve, the Himachal Pradesh High Court has summoned top administrative and police officials.

A division bench of Justice Deepak Gupta and Justice Sanjay Karol directed Shimla’s district magistrate and the superintendent of police to be present in court Friday with records regarding permissions granted to the motorists to park vehicles in restricted areas.

“We were shocked to find that vehicles were parked in the sealed and restricted areas. Not only this, the vehicles were also parked in the core area of Shimla town. There was, in fact, double parking on this road,” the bench said in a Jan 6 order, a copy of which was made available Wednesday.

The judges, while taking up a petition of the town’s problem of vehicular traffic, said: “On inquiry, we were told that some orders have been passed by the district magistrate and the superintendent of police, permitting the tourists to park their vehicles in these areas/roads.”

“It’s expected that the officials, especially the district magistrate and the superintendent of police, enforce the law. It’s not expected that they themselves start violating the law,” the judges said.

In its earlier order on the same petition dated Dec 30, the court had frowned upon Indian Army vehicles plying in the town, particularly on the restricted routes, without valid permits. The army has its offices located in the heart of the state capital.

“The army officials are also the citizens of India like all other citizens. They also have to go to office like any other government officials and if they choose not to walk… if they are using the sealed/restricted roads, they may only do so after taking (vehicle) permits under the act,” the judges observed.

The town has several auto-free zones to facilitate unrestricted movement of pedestrians.

The strolling culture of Shimla, which served as the summer capital of British India between 1864 and 1939, was developed by the British rulers.

The Mall and the historic Ridge, an open space just above the Mall and now a hub of commercial activity, were once ‘British only’ streets meant for strolling.