Published on 12:00 AM, February 17, 2020

Unfit Vehicles on Roads: Form DC-led taskforce in all districts

HC asks government

These threewheelers, with their polluting two-stroke engines, ply the streets in the city’s Lalbagh area. They have been banned in the city and have no fitness certificates whatsoever. They have no turn signals and no number plates, just a few numbers painted on by their owners. Photo: Anisur Rahman
Staff Correspondent

The High Court yesterday directed the government to form taskforce in all districts, led by deputy commissioners, to stop unregistered and unfit vehicles plying the road.

Secretaries to the ministries of public administration, home affairs, and road transport and bridges have been asked to take necessary steps to form the taskforce in line with the Road Transport Act-2018.

The HC directed appropriate legal actions include seizing, stopping, and impounding of unfit and unregistered vehicles.

The court also ordered the authorities concerned to submit reports after complying with the directives within the next three months.

Yet these vehicles were seen carrying passengers yesterday. Photo: Anisur Rahman

The bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice KM Hafizul Alam also set June 1 for passing further order on this issue, Deputy Attorney General AKM Amin Uddin Manik told The Daily Star.

He said each taskforce would be comprised of deputy commissioner, concerned executive magistrate, representatives from the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA), and police.

On March 27 last year, the same bench issued a rule after a report was published in this newspaper on March 23 under the headline "No fitness docs, yet running".

In the rule, it asked the authorities concerned to explain as to why their inaction to bar unfit vehicles and unlicensed drivers should not be declared illegal and why directives should not be given to implement the relevant laws, including the Motor Vehicles Ordinance-1983.

During hearing the rule on February 12, the BRTA submitted a report to the HC bench, saying that only 1,65,764 vehicles renewed their fitness certificates till December 30 last year among 4,58,359 that the BRTA had identified to be without valid documents.

Therefore, 2,92,595 vehicles without valid fitness documents are plying the roads since December 30 last year, according to the BRTA report.

The same day, the office of the inspector general of police submitted another report to the HC and said notices had been sent to filling stations so that fuel is not sold to vehicles without valid fitness documents.

Deputy Attorney General Manik placed the report on behalf of the IGP office.

The HC bench on that day set yesterday for passing order on this issue.

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