Deciding to hear a petition stating that women must also be asked to wear helmets as road accidents affect men and women alike, the Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought a response from the state government as to why the rule providing this exception must not be struck down.

A division bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Sanjiv Khanna issued a notice to the Delhi government on a PIL that sought to draw the court's attention to the frequent fatalities of women occurring on city roads due to a provision of the Delhi Motor Vehicles Rules that exempts women from compulsorily wearing helmets when riding pillion. "When accidents take place, it does not discriminate between men and women and the injuries are sustained irrespective of the sex... this rule must be struck down for the safety of women in Delhi. The government is bound to lay down a uniform policy for all the people, irrespective of their caste, creed, colour, gender, etc," the petition filed by Ulhas P R, a social filmmaker, stated.

The petition further referred to the rule as violative of the fundamental right to equality for women, and said that the authorities can only make rules that do not discriminate between the right to life and liberty of the two sexes. "By this PIL, women of all age groups shall be benefitted. Further, national insurance companies and the government exchequer would also be benefitted by saving the amounts that become payable as compensation to the injured and others, whose life could otherwise be saved by helmets," the petition read.

The petitioner said that the uniform rule could also help protect the rights of children of the women, who fall victim to road accidents. "The children are also entitled to seek the remedy and enforcement of compulsory wearing of helmets for the safety of their mothers," the petition stated.

During the hearing, the state government counsel informed the bench that similar rules have already been struck down in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.

The court, however, sought an affidavit from the government in four weeks' time, and fixed October 19 for further hearing of the matter. The petitioner had approached the court on an earlier occasion with the same prayer, but he was advised to withdraw it and file again with proper pleadings.

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