KARACHI – The Sindh High Court has ordered the Home Department to submit a comparative chart of crimes committed during the time when pillion riding was banned.
A division bench comprising Justice Faisal Arab and Justice Ghulam Sarwar Korai issued the directives to the Sindh Home Department for submitting the chart within two weeks.
The bench was hearing a petition filed by Deedar Ali Chandio Advocate, pleading to exempt lawyers from the pillion riding ban.
Arguing on behalf of the petitioner, Javaid Chhatari Advocate said that lawyers should be exempted from the ban just as journalists are.
The petitioner submitted that there are several courts across the city, and that lawyers need to travel from one court to the other for various cases.
“We have to reach on time, which is why we mostly prefer to travel by motorcycle with our colleagues,” he added.
The plaintiff stated that lawyers pay six percent service tax, and according to the Constitution of Pakistan, lawyers should be exempted from pillion riding ban.
The petitioner submitted that pillion riding has been banned in the past owing to the rise in street crimes, burglaries and incidents of terrorism across the city, but no improvement has been witnessed by imposing the ban.
He stated that people belonging to the legal profession have never been provided relief by allowing them pillion riding just like journalists have been.
He said that not a single incident of crime has been reported in which the suspect belonged to the legal profession. Thus, he requested the court to exempt lawyers from pillion riding ban.
Following the hearing, the court ordered the Home Department to submit a comparative chart of crimes committed during pillion riding ban.
