16 March 2017 08:04 pm
As such it requested the HRC to nullify the gazette notice issued by Transport and Highways Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva.
In the complaint, the CMA cited the minister, Department of the Registration of Motor Vehicles (RMV) Assistant Commissioner J.A.S Jayaweera, National Council for Road Safety Chairman Dr. Sisira Kodagoda and Police Traffic Division DIG Palitha Fernando as the respondents.
CMA Secretary Chirantha Amarasinghe said the HRC officials accepted the fact that there had been a violation of Human Rights because while issuing the gazette notice, the subject minister had failed to consider Sri Lanka to be a democratic State.
"People have a right to mind their own security. It has left the motorcyclists in the lurch because they have been denied the right to select a helmet of their choice,” he said.
Mr. Amarasinghe said Clause 7 in the gazette notice made it mandatory for motorcyclists to wear only SLS-standard helmets, and that only a limited number of such helmets were available in the market.
The CMA has also complained to the UN International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) citing the threats posed to riders and pillion riders by the gazette notice.(Thilanka Kanakarathna)