Chandigarh to exempt turbaned Sikh women from helmet rule
CLAMPDOWN Move comes as administration asked to take steps to check traffic fatalities THE MOTOR VEHICLES ACT, 1988, MANDATES HELMETS FOR ALL WHO RIDE TWOWHEELERS EXCEPT SIKHS WEARING TURBANS BUT ALLOWS STATES’ EXEMPTIONS
CHANDIGARH: The Chandigarh administration on Wednesday told the Punjab and Haryana high court that it planned to make helmets mandatory of all women riders except “Sikh woman wearing a turban”, a proposal that could have nationwide ramifications.
The proposal is in response to the court asking the Chandigarh administration to look for ways to check fatalities among women riding two-wheelers.
In the last three years, 24 women riders have been killed and 85 injured on the roads of the Union territory, which is the twin capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana, police data shows.
“We have issued a draft notification and invited suggestions from the general public within 30 days,” city’s top law officer Suvir Sehgal told the court.
At present, turban-wearing Sikh men and all women are exempt from wearing helmets but the administration plans to change the Chandigarh motor vehicle rules.
Only a handful of Sikh women wear turbans, which largely remains a male gear.
In Delhi, Sikh women are not required to wear helmets but Sikh men sporting turbans need to have a visor on.
The motor vehicles act, 1988, mandates helmets for all who ride two-wheelers except Sikhs wearing turbans but allows state governments to make exemptions.
While Chandigarh exempts all women, Punjab and Haryana make an exception for Sikh women, without clarifying how they can be identified.
The high court had in 1998 restricted the exemption to “Sikhs wearing turban”. But it met with resistance from Sikh bodies, which argued that tenets of Sikhism forbade wearing a cap.
The Supreme Court in 2004 said that the state had the powers to relax rules following which Chandigarh exempted all women.
During the hearing, the high court sought a report on compliance of traffic rules in Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana.
The direction came after a counsel, citing data from Haryana, which said no woman was issued a challan for riding a twowheeler without helmet in two years.