During the drive, the court led by magistrate Md. Rokan Ud Doulah sentenced Jahangir Alam, manager of Green Ways Service Station at Kamal Ataturk Avenue, under the Weights and Measures Ordinance. The court found that the lock of one of the station's dispensing units, sealed by the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI), had been broken.

The BSTI seals the lock to check any kind of tampering over measurements in the filling stations.

The court, however, granted the bail petition of the manager to allow him to appeal to the higher court against the verdict.

It also fined the service station Tk 10,000 for using a faulty dispensing unit, which showed misleading measurements.

Earlier, the same court fined Sonar Bangla Service Station at Asad Avenue Tk 30,000 after finding faulty three of its six dispensing units, which showed measurements that were not accurate.

The court found the dispensing units showed about 100 millilitres less patrol and 50 millilitres less octane in every 10-litre measurement.

The court also sealed off all the faulty dispensing units of the two stations.

Habibur Rab Majumder, BSTI Deputy Director (Metrology) told this correspondent that, according to statistics of the BSTI, the number of faulty measurement machines in the city's service stations has now been reduced to 15 percent, following regular raids by mobile courts. The number was about 75 percent before 2003.

Meanwhile, 35 mobile courts will launch a vigorous drive in the city from the first day of Ramadan to check irregularities in catering and transport services.

Led by magistrates, the courts will take action against the sale of adulterated food, and will work to enforce traffic rules and to check extra fares and overloading in buses and launches.