The case of Baljinder Badesha, a Canadian Sikh who is fighting a court battle to overturn a law barring Sikhs from driving motorcycles without a helmet , is fast gathering momentum across Canada and the globe. Badesha, of Brampton, Ont., was fined $110 and banned from driving in 2005 while stopped for not wearing a helmet. The 39-year-old used car dealer and motorcycle enthusiast is being supported by the Sikh community and the Ontario Human Rights Commission in his legal battle.

As Sikhs before him have successfully argued, Badesha says his religious beliefs require him to wear a turban outside of his home and prohibit him from wearing a helmet. Forcing him to wear a helmet violates his human rights, he maintains.

Badesha says he knows the risks of riding without a helmet and is willing to take them to honour his Sikh tenets. When he was handed the ticket, he said he was unaware that he was required to wear a helmet in Ontario. He previously lived in British Columbia, where he was exempt on religious grounds.

Vancouver-based Avtar Singh Dhillon, who fought and won a similar battle in his province of B.C., said on the phone that he had spoken to Badesha and lent him his support. "When I challenged the helmet law, I had little support. I had to pay my lawyer. But now Badesha has all the support. Though such matters take time, I am sure the helmet rule will be overturned in favour of Sikhs," Dhillon said.

Dhillon, a practising Sikh, applied for a motorcycle licence in B.C. He was refused the request on the basis he was unwilling to remove his turban and wear a helmet. In 1995 he filed a discrimination complaint on religious grounds. Dhillon won the case three years later and was granted the right to take the driving test without a helmet.

Dhillon's case changed the law in B.C. — and Manitoba — and granted practising Sikhs who have unshorn hair and habitually wear a turban of five or more square metres of cloth the right to ride without a helmet. Now, when seeking insurance, a motorcycle driver who wears a turban does not have to sign any waivers and insurance rates are not any higher as a result.

Badesha, whose court case is ongoing, said since the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms allowed him to practice his faith, and he could not be stopped from driving with a turban. He said: "I like to ride motorcycles, so that's why we are fighting the case." Sikh men wear a turban to preserve the Sikh identity and acknowledge commitment to their faith. The turban, typically light cotton, protects their uncut hair and is a sign of respect for their religion. Badesha admitted there were dangers in driving without a helmet. But people are dying even in safe cars, he countered. Arguing on his behalf, lawyer Owen Rees of the Ontario Human Rights Commission said: "What the state is saying to Mr. Badesha is you have to choose between your religious beliefs or (abstain) in order to ride the motorbike."However, government lawyers said that riding a motorcycle "is significantly different than the interests that have been found to be violated in other cases."They said since fatal and non-fatal injuries cost the government millions of dollars each year, allowing non-helmeted motorcyclists on the roads will add to the burden on the exchequer. But the defence lawyer said even if all the turbaned Sikhs, who formed only about two percent of Ontario's provincial population, drove motorcycles without helmets, their numbers in an insurance underwriter's hands would be statistically insignificant and have no quantifiable effect on provincial insurance rates. If the court decides in Badesha's favour, the province may have to enact a fresh law to allow all turbaned Sikh to drive motorcycles with helmet. — IANS