Left turn on red, is it legal in India?

[abhijit_reddevil]

Hi friends,

Today I was faced with a peculiar situation. I was at a traffic signal at the leftmost lane as I was supposed to turn left at the intersection. I had the left turn indicator of my car on. 4-5 vehicles were behind me. The traffic light was at red. To my surprise, I heard the drivers of the vehicles behind me were repeatedly honking at me. When I saw in the rear view mirror, I could feel they were abusing me and signaling me with the hand to go ahead with the left turn.

There were no vehicles in sight going to the road where I was supposed to go. Also there were no traffic police around. So I went ahead with the turn with extreme caution. I could see that the people behind also followed me. The traffic light was still red. Now I am confused. When I used to drive in the US, we were allowed to make a right turn on red unless otherwise specified (sign mentioned 'No turn on red'). Being in a city where people often give a damn to traffic rules making the roads unsafe for both drivers and pedestrians, I have a question. Did I do the right thing? Is it legal in traffic law to make a free left turn when it is safe, even on red traffic light?

Thanks for your response.

[ThinkFree]

As per my knowledge, it's allowed at most places. Where not allowed, a separate signal is there for left turn.

[shwetanshu]

^^ rite... if not a free left turn... there's an order written by Traffic Police below the signal which i notice mostly while making the turn wen my dad yells about it