‘HC takes efforts to take authorities to task, run the system… but it is not court’s job’

What the High Court did over a decade was to bring the relevant laws already in existence into focus, pointing out the duties of the various authorities to implement the statutes by keeping them in check, along with telling citizens to point out gaps and report grievances to make the system full-proof.  Besides year-long steps and research to deal with the problem, preventive steps before monsoon are mandatory…

The HC is  focusing on potholes on uncovered manholes, which are endagering human lives. The authorities ideally need to fix these issues… Despite a slew of orders till 2018, unfortunately, a contempt petition had to be filed in 2019 claiming severe non-compliance by authorities in the MMR region. The roads in the rest of Maharashtra have not really come into focus. While the HC takes efforts so that the authorities are taken to task to run the system, it is not really a job of the court.

In December 2022, the High Court had prima facie observed non-fulfilment of constitutional obligations by authorities and passed stringent directions stating that if lapses lead to death of citizens, liability will be on municipal corporations. It is a very unfortunate situation.

What were the suggestions made as Amicus Curiae which the court considered?

Since 2016, we visited several streets in Mumbai and gave suggestions… The court accepted suggestion for a centralised mechanism for citizens to report their grievances and complaints, however, nothing has been done yet by the authorities… We had requested that transcripts of the proceedings be made available, to keep a track of the matter involving ‘heap of papers’. With the Supreme Court and other HCs across India accepting transcripts, hopefully it should be a reality soon in the Bombay HC as well…

What do you think about the BMC commissioner’s suggestion of September 2022, seeking a single agency to look after upkeep of roads in Mumbai?

The court felt the suggestion made sense and appreciated the same.  It is a different thing that it is not implemented till date. The single agency, the BMC in the present case, can take over the upkeep of roads. The HC in its April 2018 judgement had observed that “no city can become a smart city unless its streets and footways are always maintained in a very good condition”. It was a good reminder to authorities that they should keep in mind.

According to you, what more steps are required from the authorities?

It is very important that the authorities should perform their ‘fulltime job’ and plan, implement and coordinate throughout the year to effectively deal with the problem.  All that the citizens want is levelled and clear roads… Aspects of disabled and elderly friendly footpaths are not yet taken. The neutral advocate-commissioners being appointed by the HC to inspect manholes in the city and to ascertain causes of deaths of two bikers in Kalyan and Thane, will keep corporations in check.

What are your suggestions about immediate medical treatment and compensation for victims?

There is a provision for immediate medical treatment in case of suburban railway accidents, which can be adopted in case of injuries due to bad roads, which can be very serious often. Unlike the Motor Vehicles Act, there is no system in place for the victims’ families to seek compensation for deaths of their kin due to potholes and uncovered manholes.

Recently, the HC mentioned that it can award compensation under its inherent powers to such families if individual petitions are made.

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Legislators should frame laws about the same and emulate best practices outside India on immediate aid under “public liability”.