Southern States - Tamil Nadu-Chennai   

Police Commissioner directed to implement order strictly

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI SEPT. 20. In a significant ruling, the Madras High Court has banned the plying of fishcarts on Chennai roads for three weeks. The First Bench, comprising the Chief Justice, B Subhashan Reddy, and the Justice, K. Govindarajan, also directed the City Commissioner of Police to ensure that the order was implemented strictly.

"There shall be an order of interim injunction restraining all fishcarts, propelled by a motor or any other machine, for a period of three weeks... The Commissioner of Police shall see that the order is implemented scrupulously'', the Bench directed in its order on Thursday.

Posting the public interest litigation petition, filed by K. Ramasamy, after three weeks, the Bench said there was no rule empowering the Government authorities even to consider the grant of permission to run the fishcarts carrying either materials or persons. It also directed the court office to communicate the order to the transport department and traffic police immediately.

The petitioner contended that in the Motor Vehicle Act, there was no provision for running motorised fishcarts fitted with engines of 25 cc capacity and above. Despite this, the fishcarts, which were originally used to carry fish and marine objects for marketing purposes, now had come to be used as heavy transport vehicles by inexperienced persons having no driving licence or any legally permissible documents.

Many fishcarts, fitted with even 250 and 350 cc motors, plied on city roads without any licence and third party insurance cover causing danger to the lives and prospects of road-users. While untrained drivers operated the vehicles in a rash and negligent manner, the law enforcement authorities were mute spectators to the growing danger, the petitioner maintained.

In case of accidents involving such unlicensed fishcarts, the road-user injured in the accident or the kin of the deceased persons would not be eligible for any sort of compensation from insurance companies, the petitioner said.

The petitioner prayed for a direction to the transport and traffic police personnel asking them to strictly implement the provisions of the Motor Vehicle Act and traffic rules vis-a-vis fishcarts. As an interim relief, the petitioner sought an injunction restraining the use of fishcarts in Chennai.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Southern States

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Police Commissioner directed to implement order strictly
• Patient jumps to death
• RWH benefits Kathangollai pond in Guindy Park
• PG course in diabetology for doctors
• Couple attacked at Mandaveli

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu