One of my clients recently had a case which I am explaining below and if you are stuck in such similar situation, here is what to do.
Note: Due to attorney-client privilege, I cannot disclose complete case details or identify the actual parties involved. However, I am sharing the essential facts and legal approach so that if you find yourself in a similar situation, you can understand the available solutions and legal remedies.
TL;DR: A private shop or business cannot lawfully enforce a "No Parking" warning by letting the air out of your tyres, even if you parked badly or blocked access. Doing so can be prosecuted as mischief, and a board threatening it can, in the right facts, point towards criminal intimidation. The land being private does not create a right to damage a vehicle; the lawful route is the traffic police or the municipal authority.
Key Facts of the Case
- A Maruti Swift was parked on the roadside stretch outside a private coaching centre in Vijay Nagar, Indore, for roughly twenty minutes in March 2025.
- The front passenger-side tyre was found fully deflated, with no puncture and the valve cap lying on the road.
- A laminated board in Hindi on the wall warned that the air from all tyres of any parked two-wheeler or four-wheeler would be let out and the owner would be responsible.
- The vehicle owner had photographed the board and the flat tyre before moving the car.
- The local police station initially treated the complaint as a private dispute between two parties.
- The complaint was re-drafted to set out the ingredients of mischief and criminal intimidation, which changed how the police classified it.
- The board was removed and a written undertaking was given; no prosecution was ultimately needed.
- The warning board itself became the most useful piece of evidence, because it showed the deflation was deliberate rather than accidental.
The Direct Legal Answer
No. A private person cannot lawfully deflate your tyres to enforce parking discipline, and a board announcing that they will does not make it legal. Displaying the threat is not a defence. At most, it is evidence of intent if a deflation follows.
Is a private No Parking board legal in India?
Putting up a sign is not by itself an offence. Anyone can put a notice on their own wall. What is not permitted is carrying out the threat. And here's the thing, a board that threatens to damage property, if it is aimed at a particular person to make them move the
Facing a similar matter? Speak to a Delhi criminal defence lawyer — Advocate Sudhir Rao appears in bail, trial and appellate matters before the Delhi District Courts, the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court of India.