The Sindh High Court has asked for statistics on crime during and after bans on pillion riding to see whether it is an effective measure or not.
A division bench of Chief Justice Mushir Alam and Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi was hearing a constitutional petition on Friday against the pillion riding ban in Karachi.
The petition was filed by a lawyer, Javed Ahmed Chattari. The bench maintained that since the ban is imposed and removed every now and then, it is about time someone resolves the “controversy” and finds out if the ban is justified.
It studied the comparative report prepared by the petitioner on the number of cases recorded in 2009 and 2010.
The report tries to show that the crime rate remains the same with or without the ban.
The petitioner maintained that the ban is only useful for private bus owners and transporters, who manage to earn millions in just one day when ‘double sawari’ is banned.
The court directed the home secretary to file details on crime reported when the ban was in place as well as the crime that was recorded when the ban was lifted.
The statistics should be compiled within two weeks. The report should also indicate the cases in which pillion riders were involved, the bench added. The hearing was then adjourned for a date to be fixed later.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 9th, 2011.
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