Advocates from MHAA petitioned Chief Minister's cell against helmet rule

Chennai: A group of lawyers belonging to the Madras High Court Advocates’ Association (MHAA) and Madurai Bar Association on Wednesday petitioned the Chief Minister’s cell seeking the government’s intervention in the matter relating to compulsory helmet rule.

The petitioners said pillion riders, particularly women, were finding it difficult to wear helmets. In the petition, association president R. C. Paul Kanagaraj citing section 129 of the Motor Vehicles Act , which stated that wearing of helmets by two-wheeler riders was compulsory, said the same section empowered the state government to exempt wearing of helmet as it may deem fit.

The petition said lawyers were reluctantly compelled to state that when the case came up for hearing, government counsel should have informed the court about the exemption in force. Failure to inform the court resulted in the court passing an order directing the state to make helmet-wearing compulsory from July 1.