LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday suspended a deputy commissioner’s notification that banned the sale of petrol to motorcyclists not wearing a helmet.

Justice Raheel Kamran Sheikh passed the injunctive order on a petition filed by a citizen, Mian Irfan Bashir.

The petitioner’s counsel argued that the directive issued by the DC was without a lawful authority and in violation of freedom of trade as embodied in Article 18 of the Constitution.

The judge questioned the imposition of the restriction on a basic right with mere a notification. He observed that it would be appropriate if the government introduced legislation on the matter.

Justice Sheikh sought replies from the Punjab government and the DC and suspended the impugned notification till Aug 16.

The Lahore DC had issued a notification to ban the sale of petrol to motorcyclists who won’t be using helmet while riding their two-wheelers.

According to notification on July 6, “the use of helmet is prescribed as mandatory by the law for safety of bikers/motorcyclists and violation of the same is an offence under the provision of Motor Vehicle Ordinance 1965 but it has been observed with concern that the same is being ignored and resulting in increase in death ration/severe head injuries of the bikers in road collisions/accidents.”

It went on to say that “in order to eradicate the illegal practice and to ensure road safety & and prevent loss of precious life, complete ban is being imposed on selling of fuel to bikers/motorcyclists without wearing safety helmet within the revenue jurisdiction of District Lahore”.

According to the details, the order comes three days after the DIG Traffic Police Punjab issued a letter to make helmets mandatory for motorcyclists.

The ban was reportedly followed by similar notifications from the Sialkot DC as well as CTO Rawalpindi.