The High Court has ordered the removal of all battery-run and motorised rickshaws from the streets of Dhaka and Chittagong.
Five petitions had been filed with the HC, seeking permission to run such vehicles in the two City Corporation areas.
The bench of Justice Mirza Hussain Haider and Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar gave the order on Thursday after rejecting the pleas.
The ruling paves the way for the banning of rickshaws other than the manual ones in Dhaka and Chittagong, say lawyers.
Barrister Ruhul Kuddus Kajal, barrister Toufique Inam and advocate Nazmul Haque argued for the Dhaka City Corporation, while barrister Mahiuddin Shamim represented Chittagong City Corporation.
“City corporations issue licenses for rickshaws of the manual variety. Battery-run and motorised rickshaws have been running in the two cities for quite some time. Some of them had sought permits from city corporations,” barrister Kajal told bdnews24.com.
The two city corporations informed the High Court that permitting such rickshaws was not possible under the existing laws, he added.
“Since the petitions concerned these two cities, it is assumed that the rule applies to them. The detailed verdict may include all the cities,” said Kajal.
Source: Bd news24