Hi Mohammed,
Good find, I wasn't aware of that, thanks!
Having said that, traceability of development objects is much more than a log of specific table entries. When you see a transport log, you know what object has been moved, not just piecemeal entries. In a healthy environment you would also be able to link that to a change request or a project, and could see what the design was and who tested etc. Transports to Prod usually have an approval cycle too, so a TR in Production can be assumed to have undergone at least some checks and balances.
With transports you're skydiving with a parachute strapped to your back. With unnecessary direct table changes in a production box you're basically jumping off a plane with the vague hope that there's a trampoline somewhere on the ground 
SM20 or no SM20, you wouldn't change RSAABAP in production because some start routine has an error, nor would any auditor accept it if you did. And if that's normal process in a system, it's scary to imagine what else might be normal in such a system. Like you said, nothing is illegal until you get caught.
we can always take him to the confession room
What if he's left the company and holidaying in Ibiza?
Regards,
Suhas