Requisition: HC bars police from keeping vehicles for over 7 days

After a requisition, the police cannot keep any vehicle for more than seven days, the High Court said Wednesday in the full text of an earlier ruling.

A HC division bench of Justice Naima Haider and Justice Khizir Ahmed Choudhury passed the order with an 11-point direction on July 31, 2019, following a writ petition filed in the public interest.

The full text of the verdict was released today, said advocate Manzill Murshid, who argued for writ petition.

The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) commissioner has been asked to send the guideline in the form of a notification to the station officials concerned within 90 days of receiving the order.

Vehicles requisitioned under the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Ordinance 1976 will only be used in the public interest, not in any way for personal use.

No police officer or his or her family can use requisitioned vehicles for personal purposes, according to the HC order.

For the requisitioning of vehicles of an individual, company or organisation, the owner has to be given prior notice with explanations.

A committee should be formed through DMP to determine the compensation and daily allowance of the requisitioned vehicles and should be paid within 15 days of the requisition.

Any complaint regarding requisition will have to be investigated and action should be taken by the authorities.

Also, vehicles carrying patients, disabled persons, and passengers at the airport cannot be requisitioned, the HC order said.

In 2010, Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh filed a writ petition challenging the validity of the provision of police vehicle requisition under Section 103 (A) of the DMP Ordinance.

The court issued a rule on May 23 of the same year regarding the preliminary hearing of the petition, reports UNB.