Vehicle requisition and police power
Monday, 17 May 2010
Shamsul Huq Zahid
A large group of cab drivers clashed with police near the busy Farm Gate and the Tejgaon police station on last Thursday and Friday, protesting requisition of their vehicles and arrest of, at least, eight of their comrades.
The incident of clash being an unprecedented one, actually, highlights the strong resentment that the cab drivers and vehicle owners have against requisition of vehicles by the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP).
The owners of buses, pick-ups, microbuses and yellow cabs have developed a sort of phobia about DMP vehicle requisition. They pass their times in real anxiety when their vehicles operate in streets of Dhaka city since police sergeants do very often appear from nowhere and signal the vehicles of their choice to stop along the pavements. Some vehicle owners manage to escape requisition by greasing the palms of the police officials. But in most cases, the owners have to given in to police power.
The association of bus owners being aware of the fact that bus owners would have to live with this kind of situation has put in a place a permanent arrangement under which they deploy a certain number of buses at the disposal of the DMP to avoid indiscriminate requisition. But private microbuses and yellow cabs have been the easy targets of the DMP.
The driver of a Navana yellow cab recently narrated to me his plight following requisition of his cab by the police. He said the police requisitioned his cab from Gulshan area of the city and released the same after four days. During all those days, he had to ferry police officials from one office to another and, at times, the family members of the police officials used his vehicle for shopping and visiting the houses of their relatives. He claimed that he could hardly sleep and take a bath since all the time he was on the move. The most tragic part of his plight was that the police did not give him even a penny to buy his breakfast or meals. The ill-fated cab driver said after the expiry of the requisition period, he, instead of going to his residence at Badda, decided to be on the road to earn some money for his family's sustenance and I was his second passenger. " I will have to be on the road, at least, for next 24 hours before returning home", he said in a chocked voice.
Does this poor driver deserve this kind of treatment from the police?
The DMP has been requisitioning vehicles in accordance with the law. The clause 103 A (1) of the DMP Ordinance, 1976 empowers the police commissioner, by order in writing (which is done very rarely), to requisition any vehicle, for a period not exceeding seven days, if such vehicle is required in the 'public interest'.
Interestingly, though the original law mentioned about payment of compensation, necessary rules for the same was put into effect after long 30 years in 2006, meaning no compensation was paid for requisitioned vehicles during all those years.
According to vehicle requisition and compensation rules, 2006 of DMP, the DMP commissioner will form a committee comprising a joint commissioner of traffic and an officer not below the rank of assistant director of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority to fix the rates of compensation. The committee will determine the amount of money the owners of requisitioned vehicles would get after considering seating capacity and types of vehicles. The committee is also assigned to fix the amounts to be paid to the driver and the helper of a requisitioned vehicle.
The committee in question in July 2008 had fixed a daily compensation of Tk 1,000 for a requisitioned bus, Tk 700 for a minibus or a truck with five tonne capacity, Tk 600 for a microbus and small truck and Tk 400 for a small vehicle (human hauler) or a cab. Tk 50 was fixed for each driver and helper of the vehicles.
However, allegations have it that in most cases, no compensation is given to the owners of vehicles. Even the drivers of the requisitioned vehicles who are made to drive the vehicles almost round the clock are not paid the daily allowance as fixed by the compensation committee.
The clause of the DMP Ordinance relating to the requisition of vehicles has turned out to be draconian one. It violates the basic right to property.
There is no denying that the government in case of emergency or war situation can requisition private property, including vehicles, for the greater national interest. But why should a government agency, the DMP is one, take temporary control over property of a private individual throughout the year in a normal situation?
The number of DMP's own vehicles is highly inadequate to carry out its normal operations and that is why it requisitions in between 250 and 300 privately owned vehicles daily. It is the responsibility of the government to make available vehicles and other logistics necessary for smooth operation of any agency under its control. It should not have made law to empower the top officials of one of its agencies to take temporary control over the vehicles owned by private citizens in a normal situation to compensate for its inability to provide the required number of vehicles. Such a law should have been only for extraordinary situation. The government does need to revise the law only for meeting the need in emergency situation.
E-mail: zahidmar10@gmail.com
A large group of cab drivers clashed with police near the busy Farm Gate and the Tejgaon police station on last Thursday and Friday, protesting requisition of their vehicles and arrest of, at least, eight of their comrades.
The incident of clash being an unprecedented one, actually, highlights the strong resentment that the cab drivers and vehicle owners have against requisition of vehicles by the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP).
The owners of buses, pick-ups, microbuses and yellow cabs have developed a sort of phobia about DMP vehicle requisition. They pass their times in real anxiety when their vehicles operate in streets of Dhaka city since police sergeants do very often appear from nowhere and signal the vehicles of their choice to stop along the pavements. Some vehicle owners manage to escape requisition by greasing the palms of the police officials. But in most cases, the owners have to given in to police power.
The association of bus owners being aware of the fact that bus owners would have to live with this kind of situation has put in a place a permanent arrangement under which they deploy a certain number of buses at the disposal of the DMP to avoid indiscriminate requisition. But private microbuses and yellow cabs have been the easy targets of the DMP.
The driver of a Navana yellow cab recently narrated to me his plight following requisition of his cab by the police. He said the police requisitioned his cab from Gulshan area of the city and released the same after four days. During all those days, he had to ferry police officials from one office to another and, at times, the family members of the police officials used his vehicle for shopping and visiting the houses of their relatives. He claimed that he could hardly sleep and take a bath since all the time he was on the move. The most tragic part of his plight was that the police did not give him even a penny to buy his breakfast or meals. The ill-fated cab driver said after the expiry of the requisition period, he, instead of going to his residence at Badda, decided to be on the road to earn some money for his family's sustenance and I was his second passenger. " I will have to be on the road, at least, for next 24 hours before returning home", he said in a chocked voice.
Does this poor driver deserve this kind of treatment from the police?
The DMP has been requisitioning vehicles in accordance with the law. The clause 103 A (1) of the DMP Ordinance, 1976 empowers the police commissioner, by order in writing (which is done very rarely), to requisition any vehicle, for a period not exceeding seven days, if such vehicle is required in the 'public interest'.
Interestingly, though the original law mentioned about payment of compensation, necessary rules for the same was put into effect after long 30 years in 2006, meaning no compensation was paid for requisitioned vehicles during all those years.
According to vehicle requisition and compensation rules, 2006 of DMP, the DMP commissioner will form a committee comprising a joint commissioner of traffic and an officer not below the rank of assistant director of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority to fix the rates of compensation. The committee will determine the amount of money the owners of requisitioned vehicles would get after considering seating capacity and types of vehicles. The committee is also assigned to fix the amounts to be paid to the driver and the helper of a requisitioned vehicle.
The committee in question in July 2008 had fixed a daily compensation of Tk 1,000 for a requisitioned bus, Tk 700 for a minibus or a truck with five tonne capacity, Tk 600 for a microbus and small truck and Tk 400 for a small vehicle (human hauler) or a cab. Tk 50 was fixed for each driver and helper of the vehicles.
However, allegations have it that in most cases, no compensation is given to the owners of vehicles. Even the drivers of the requisitioned vehicles who are made to drive the vehicles almost round the clock are not paid the daily allowance as fixed by the compensation committee.
The clause of the DMP Ordinance relating to the requisition of vehicles has turned out to be draconian one. It violates the basic right to property.
There is no denying that the government in case of emergency or war situation can requisition private property, including vehicles, for the greater national interest. But why should a government agency, the DMP is one, take temporary control over property of a private individual throughout the year in a normal situation?
The number of DMP's own vehicles is highly inadequate to carry out its normal operations and that is why it requisitions in between 250 and 300 privately owned vehicles daily. It is the responsibility of the government to make available vehicles and other logistics necessary for smooth operation of any agency under its control. It should not have made law to empower the top officials of one of its agencies to take temporary control over the vehicles owned by private citizens in a normal situation to compensate for its inability to provide the required number of vehicles. Such a law should have been only for extraordinary situation. The government does need to revise the law only for meeting the need in emergency situation.
E-mail: zahidmar10@gmail.com