The High Court (HC) ordered the authorities concerned Wednesday to maintain status quo on prohibition of the use of black or tinted glass in vehicles for two weeks.
"Following the HC's status quo, now there is no legal bar for the people to use black or tinted glass in their vehicles during the next two weeks," Advocate Manzill Murshid,
counsel of the petitioners of a writ filed in this connection, told the FE.
After expiry of the two weeks' time, the people can use such glass in their vehicles on permission of the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) or the ministry of home affairs (MoHA).
The authorities would have to dispose of the applications, submitted seeking such approval, within seven days, Mr Murshid said quoting the court order.
The HC passed the order requiring users to take permission for the use of black or tinted glass after expiry of the status quo period following the attorney general's prayer, Mr Murshid added.
The HC bench comprising Justice Mirza Hussain Haider and Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar also issued a rule asking the government to explain within four weeks as to why its decision of banning the black or tinted glass in vehicles should not be declared illegal.
The MoHA secretary and the deputy secretary of the same ministry, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner, and the DMP Joint Commissioner (traffic) were made respondents to the rule.
Two Supreme Court (SC) lawyers, Assaduzzaman Siddique and Aklas Uddin Bhuiyan, filed the petition on May 14, 2014 challenging legality of such a decision taken by the MoHA.
Attorney General Mahbubey Alam and Deputy Attorney General Al Amin Sarkar stood up for the government while Mr Murshid argued for the petitioners.
In the wake of the gruesome seven murders in Narayanganj recently, the MoHA on April 30 last banned the use of black or tinted glass in vehicles, and ordered to remove such glass by May 10, 2014 in a bid to foil abduction.
Later, the ministry relaxed its order saying that it would not be applicable to built-in glass in vehicles, sources said.
In the writ petition, the petitioners said that there was no provision in the existing laws, including the Motor Vehicles Ordinance-1983 and SROs (statutory regulatory orders) issued by the ministry of commerce, under which any such decision could be taken banning the black or tinted glass.
Apart from that, the government's decision to allow an extra advantage to built-in glass in vehicles was discriminatory, they said.
No legal bar to tinted glass use for two weeks
FE Report | Published: May 22, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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