Sri Lankan court suspends full-face helmet ban

Sri Lanka’s Appeal Court on Thursday suspended a ban on full-face helmets used by motorcyclists, which was to be enforced today, pending an inquiry by court. The order came after the Government temporarily suspended its enforcement following protests by 100s of motor cycle riders at the weekend but decided to enforce it. The helmet ban, aimed at preventing bank robberies after robbers walked in with full-face helmets to prevent identification at a few banks and got away with millions of rupees, was introduced then suspended, then set to be enforced from today –April 2. However police said they began issuing warnings today to riders and planned to enforce the ban later. Later on Thursday, following a petition filed by Chanaka Dissanayake, a chartered accountant, the Appeal Court suspended the ban until April 28 when the case will be taken up for hearing. (Bandula)