HYDERABAD: The Hyderabad circuit bench of the Sindh High Court has directed divisional commissioners to launch a campaign to ensure that all vehicles of public transport receive fares as per notification issued by Regional Transport Authority (RTA), and follow prescribed precautions with regard to CNG cylinders.

A division bench comprising Justices Salahuddin Panhwar and Ghulam Qadir Leghari on Thurs­day directed the divisional commissioners of Hyderabad, Mirpur­khas and Nawabshah to depute assistant commissioners (ACs) and deputy superintendents of police (DSPs) to launch the campaign.

The bench remarked the campaign should initially be launched for a period of one week in a month for a period of at least six months and a compliance report in this regard should be submitted on a monthly basis to the additional registrar of the court.

The court observed that substandard CNG cylinders installed in vehicles were just like explosive material which could cause great human loss if it exploded after developing malfunctioning due to failure o part of vehicle owners to follow prescribed precautions. The ACs and DSPs should, therefore, ensure the cylinders were installed as per notifications issued by the government, it said.

The court instructed the secretary of RTA, Pervez Hassan Qureshi, who was present in the court to ensure that every public transport vehicle should display route permit and fare list at a place visible to everyone and should submit compliance report to the court within a month.

The court warned that contempt proceedings would be initiated against the officer in case he failed to enforce the court’s directives.

The bench asked SSPs concerned to provide necessary assistance to ACs and the secretary of RTA to help them enforce the court order and said the additional registrar would ensure compliance of this order in letter and spirit.

The court passed the order on a constitutional petition filed by Abdul Nasir Khan as public interest litigation, raising the issue of fares and installation of CNG cylinders in public transport including wagons, coasters and vans.

The petitioner had cited secretary of transport, AIG Sindh police (traffic), deputy commissioners, chairmen of district regional transport authorities, SSPs of Hyderabad and Mirpurkhas and secretariats of RTA Mirpurkhas and Hyderabad as respondents.

The court noted that faulty CNG cylinders in past had claimed many precious lives and aroused authorities concerned to issue specific directives to examine vehicles but such directives seemed to have faded away by lapse of time. The directives were never meant to remain in files but they were meant to serve a purpose.

The fare notification issued by transport authorities would also fail if authorities concerned did not ensure its compliance, it said.

The petitioner said that passengers were being charged excessive fares and feared the CNG cylinders installed in the vehicles could cause great human loss.

The court observed that no one could deny the fact that public transport was meant to provide a facility to people not according to transporters’ wishes but in a manner and a mechanism defined by transport authorities which included fixation of fares.

The petitioner requested the court to implement official fare list in public transport plying on Mirpurkhas-Hyderabad route and other cities and direct the respondents to take legal action as per apex court’s orders against the transporters who had installed CNG cylinders underneath passengers’ seats.

He said that transporters should be directed to display fare list on the left side of windscreen, mentioning all particulars including vehicle number, route permit number, date of expiry and alignment of route.

He requested the court to direct the respondents to form a committee for enforcing official fares in Mirpurkhas in letter and spirit.

The court adjourned the case to Sept 9.

Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2016