Two transit police officers acted appropriately when they forcibly removed from a SkyTrain car a man who had not paid his fare, a provincial court judge recently ruled.

On Jan. 1, 2009, two transit officers hopped onto a SkyTrain car at the Columbia Street Station in New Westminster to check for proof of fare payments from passengers.

When they asked Aresh Virani for his ticket, Virani ignored them, told them that he was a "child of the world" and asked to know what law he had broken, according to court documents.

The officers told Virani that he needed to provide proof of payment under the Greater Vancouver Transit Conduct and Safety Regulation and that he would have to get off the train at the next stop.

But Virani said he answered only to federal laws and refused to leave the train when the doors opened, court documents stated.

When one of the officers took hold of Virani's arm, Virani shouted, "You just assaulted me."

At the next station, the officers each took one of Virani's arms and forced him off the train.

They told him he was under arrest for obstructing a peace officer.

During a search, they discovered a kitchen knife in the back waistband of his pants.

Police later issued Virani a violation ticket and a notice to appear in court on the obstruction charge.

Virani's lawyer argued in court that the officers should simply have issued him a ticket and allowed him to go on his way.

But in a ruling issued earlier this month, Judge Deirdre Pothecary disagreed.

Removing Virani from the train was appropriate to avoid a fight within the train, the judge wrote.

While provincial statutes do not explicitly permit transit officers to forcibly remove a person who has not complied with the rules, that authority is implicit in the duty of police officers "to enforce … the laws of B.C." and to "generally maintain…order," Pothecary said.

The judge went on to find Virani guilty of the obstruction charge.

By refusing to leave the SkyTrain car when ordered to do so, Virani challenged the authority of the officers, Pothecary said.

"I find that he deliberately tried to exacerbate the situation by shouting out to the other passengers that he had been assaulted. I am left in no doubt that all of these actions were directed at hindering or frustrating the officers' efforts to have him comply with the (transit rules)."

Attempts to reach Virani were unsuccessful.

A call to his lawyer was not returned.