The High Court on Wednesday asked the government to explain its failure to ensure safety on the roads and to repair the damaged highways throughout the country.
The bench of Justice Mirza Hussain Haider and Justice Md Nuruzzaman asked the government to submit a report to it by October 17 on the steps taken to ensure road safety and repair the country's roads.
It posted October 18 for the hearing of the government's reply to the rule.
The court also asked the communications secretary, Roads and Highways Department's chief engineer and Bangladesh Road Transport Authority's chairman to explain what action they had taken in connection with the reported issuance of licences to aspiring drivers without making them undergo the necessary tests.
It referred to a report in the Prothom Alo on August 15, which stated that 'the shipping minister's pressure caused issuance 10,000 driving licences without the conducting of any tests last year, and now he wants issuance of 24,500 more licences without any tests'.
They will also need to submit a report on the driving licences issued in 2009, 2010 and 2011.
The BRTA's chairman was also asked to submit a report detailing the road accidents that had occurred till 2010.
The court asked the government to provide several more items of information, including the measures taken to prevent road accidents on the 216 'black spots' on major highways identified by the Roads and Highways Department, the accidents that occurred till 2010 and the steps taken for investigating them.
The government was asked to report to the court about how many licences had been issued for heavy and light vehicles in the last five years and whether any tests had been conducted to examine the fitness of the licence-holders.
The court also wanted to know whether any medical tests of the drivers had been conducted to ascertain their physical fitness and whether any tests had been conducted to examine the fitness of the vehicles.
The government will also need to explain the criteria followed for renewal of the licences.
It was asked to detail the measures taken against the running of unfit vehicles, drivers having no valid licences or talking over mobile phones while driving.
It will need to detail the measures taken against the drivers and people in the front seats for not fastening their seatbelts.
The government was also asked to detail the latest situation of the implementation of the recommendations made by the road safety committees.
The court also wanted to know whether any investigation was conducted or any action taken against the people engaged in ensuring road safety for their failure.
The government will also need to detail the budgetary allocations for the Roads and Highways Department for the last five years, their expenditures and the programmes taken up or implemented for development of the roads.
The court asked the Accident Research Institute of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology to submit a report by October 17, detailing the causes of road accidents and making recommendations for their prevention.
The court passed the orders after hearing a writ petition filed on August 14 by the Bangladesh Bar Council's Legal Aid and Human Rights Committee's chairman ZI Khan, Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association, Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust and Supreme Court lawyer Abantee Nurul.
The petition was filed a day after internationally acclaimed film director Tareque Masud, ATN News' chief executive officer Ashfaque Mishuk Munier and three others were killed in a road accident at Ghior in Manikganj on August 13.
Former attorney general Mahmudul Islam, the petitioner's counsel, told the court that the petitioners were shocked by the alarming incidence of road accidents across the country, which has been reported widely in newspapers and broadcast on the TV channels.
The petitioners are also alarmed by the failure of the authorities concerned to discharge their statutory duty to take appropriate measures to investigate road accidents, take action including prosecution against those responsible, and ensure redress to those affected, he said.
The counsel argued that road accidents continue to increase in frequency due to the failure of the authorities to enforce the Motor Vehicles Ordinance 1983, the Highways Act 1925, the Vehicles Act 1927, the Road Transport Corporation Ordinance 1961, the Police Act 1861 and Highway Police Rules 2005.
The failure of the government to enforce the relevant laws and rules is complete violation of the fundamental rights of persons to equality before law, life and personal liberty, which include the right to safety on the roads and highways, as guaranteed under Articles 27, 31 and 32 of the Constitution, he argued.
Mahmudul Islam, along with Sara Hossain and Iqbal Kabir, moved the petition, while additional attorney general MK Rahman appeared for the government.
Source : New Age
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