Legal or not?: Sindh transport, traffic regulatory body to explain drive
Rickshaw owners said their vehicles were introduced after amending the law.
SHC had given a stay order on the crackdown launched by the city traffic police against these motorcycle rickshaws after the Motorcycle-Rickshaw Owners Association had gone to court. PHOTO: AYESHA MIR/EXPRESS
KARACHI:
The Sindh High Court (SHC) issued notices on Monday to the provincial transport and traffic regulatory authorities to file comments on a number of petitions for and against the operation of the three-wheeled motorcycle rickshaws in the city.
Headed by Justice Ahmed Ali M Sheikh, the bench fixed the next hearing on March 31 when it will hear the various petitions filed by the Qingqi Rickshaws Owners Association, the public transporters and others.
In October last year, the SHC had given a stay order on the crackdown launched by the city traffic police against these motorcycle rickshaws after the Motorcycle-Rickshaw Owners Association had gone to court. They accused the traffic police of launching the crackdown against their vehicles on the pretext of traffic jams.
The association’s representative, Akbar Khan, insisted that the rickshaws were introduced after an amendment was made to the motor vehicle law, thus restricting their operations was an unlawful act of the authorities. Khan had maintained that the ban on Qingqi rickshaws would not only affect the livelihood of thousands of poor people and but also create problems for millions of commuters who use this mode of transport every day.
The association had pleaded the court declare the ban as unlawful and illegal and restrain the traffic police and the administration from taking action against the motorcycle-rickshaw operators.
Ban sought
A civic rights campaigner, Rana Faizul Hasan, had moved the Sindh High Court in 2012 seeking action against, what he called, is the unlawful operation of as many as 50,000 motorcycle (Qingqi) rickshaws in the city. In his plea, he had submitted that the motorcycle rickshaws were operating on various city routes illegally and in glare violation of Section 23 of the Motor Vehicle Ordinance that allows the plying of a vehicle on the road only on fulfilling the condition of fitness and registration.
According to the petitioner, boys as young as 14 to 16 years old were operating these vehicles without a driving licence. More than 50,000 motorcycle rickshaws were operating on 90 routes in the city without any registration and fitness certificate, he alleged. The petitioner had claimed that even snatched motorcycles were being used in such rickshaws and Rs5 million had been paid to a political party in the city as protection money.
On Monday, the bench extended the stay granted earlier against the crackdown launched by the traffic police authorities till the next date of hearing.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 11th, 2014.
The Sindh High Court (SHC) issued notices on Monday to the provincial transport and traffic regulatory authorities to file comments on a number of petitions for and against the operation of the three-wheeled motorcycle rickshaws in the city.
Headed by Justice Ahmed Ali M Sheikh, the bench fixed the next hearing on March 31 when it will hear the various petitions filed by the Qingqi Rickshaws Owners Association, the public transporters and others.
In October last year, the SHC had given a stay order on the crackdown launched by the city traffic police against these motorcycle rickshaws after the Motorcycle-Rickshaw Owners Association had gone to court. They accused the traffic police of launching the crackdown against their vehicles on the pretext of traffic jams.
The association’s representative, Akbar Khan, insisted that the rickshaws were introduced after an amendment was made to the motor vehicle law, thus restricting their operations was an unlawful act of the authorities. Khan had maintained that the ban on Qingqi rickshaws would not only affect the livelihood of thousands of poor people and but also create problems for millions of commuters who use this mode of transport every day.
The association had pleaded the court declare the ban as unlawful and illegal and restrain the traffic police and the administration from taking action against the motorcycle-rickshaw operators.
Ban sought
A civic rights campaigner, Rana Faizul Hasan, had moved the Sindh High Court in 2012 seeking action against, what he called, is the unlawful operation of as many as 50,000 motorcycle (Qingqi) rickshaws in the city. In his plea, he had submitted that the motorcycle rickshaws were operating on various city routes illegally and in glare violation of Section 23 of the Motor Vehicle Ordinance that allows the plying of a vehicle on the road only on fulfilling the condition of fitness and registration.
According to the petitioner, boys as young as 14 to 16 years old were operating these vehicles without a driving licence. More than 50,000 motorcycle rickshaws were operating on 90 routes in the city without any registration and fitness certificate, he alleged. The petitioner had claimed that even snatched motorcycles were being used in such rickshaws and Rs5 million had been paid to a political party in the city as protection money.
On Monday, the bench extended the stay granted earlier against the crackdown launched by the traffic police authorities till the next date of hearing.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 11th, 2014.