Tiwari said that the space occupied by private taxi operators near the court was not notified as taxi stand by either the Vadodara Municipal Corporation or the police commissioner. ``Parking of commercial taxis is violation of all legal provisions'', Tiwari alleged.

He claimed that though a senior traffic police officer at a meeting on September 28 with advocates and members of judiciary had agreed to get the private taxis removed from the parking area within 24 hours nothing was done. He alleged that commercial taxis of some relatives of some police officers and a senior politician of the ruling party were being parked there and therefore the police did not take action.

When contacted, Assistant Commissioner of Police A R Munshi said he had not given any particular date for getting the place vacated from private taxi operators. He said the police legally could not force the taxi operators to remove their vehicles, because the space had not been notified for any particular category of people. ``It is a general parking space and anybody can go and park their vehicles, including advocates, if they find space there,'' he stated.