Dulal Kumar Bose, the sheriff, boards a two-stroke auto on Thursday

The sheriff of Calcutta, appointed by the high court, readily responded to a request from Metro to highlight how two-stroke autorickshaws were flouting the ban on Thursday.

Dr Dulal Kumar Basu stepped out of Kothari Medical Centre around 4.30pm, hailed a two-stroke auto and took a short ride.

“Do you know that the auto you are driving has been banned by the high court?” the reputed ENT physician asked the driver. The auto driver nodded in affirmation but was mum about why he was flouting the ban.

The sheriff at the end of the two-stroke auto ride.(Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya)

“I wanted to check for myself how two-stroke autos have been plying on the roads despite the ban on them from the morning of January 1. Most of the autos I saw bore flags of one political party or another,” said the sheriff.

“Political parties should have displayed some ethics as the matter pertains to public health. I appreciate that the livelihood of so many auto drivers is involved but political parties should have sorted this out after the high court order was passed on July 18, and not defied the ban like this,” said Basu.

The sheriff termed the air we breathe “extremely polluted” and said every Calcuttan was paying a price for this.