Judge halves fines for cab driver on hook for 27 parking offences

A Vancouver taxi driver with $ 8,100 in unpaid parking tickets has had his fine cut by more than half by a B. C. Supreme Court judge.

Justice Gregory Fitch decided the penalty didn’t fit the crime of Balbir Singh Jhutty, owner of two Maclure’s Cabs whose drivers committed 27 parking infractions between Feb. 2 and Sept. 30, 2010, including stopping in bus zones, disabled zones, and intersections, as well as double- parking and stopping too close to crosswalks, court records show.

Jhutty was not driving the cabs at the time of the violations because he was off work while getting treatment for prostate cancer, according to court records, but as the registered owner he was responsible for the vehicles.

On May 9, 2011, Jhutty pleaded guilty to the offences before a justice of the peace but later changed his mind and appealed to have the penalty and his guilty plea reversed.

Jhutty faced fines of $ 300 per infraction, six times more than the original penalties because he had failed to pay them on time.

Fitch rejected Jhutty’s request to have his plea reversed, but reconsidered the penalty.

The judge reduced each of the $ 300 fines to $ 125, for a total of $ 3,375 and gave Jhutty six months to pay. He noted the new penalty is proportionate.