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Court was dealing with a plea by Chaalak Shakti, a drivers’ union, which challenged mandatory uniform for auto rickshaw and taxi drivers alleging that such labelling was in violation of the Constitution of India.
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday dismissed a plea against the mandatory uniform for auto-rickshaw and taxi drivers in the national capital.
While rejecting the plea, the bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad orally observed that the instant plea amounted to gross misuse of a public interest litigation (PIL).
The court was dealing with a plea by Chaalak Shakti, a drivers’ union, which challenged mandatory uniforms for auto rickshaw and taxi drivers and alleged that such labelling was in violation of the Constitution of India.
During the course of the hearing in the matte, the counsel for the petitioner contended that prescribing a uniform curtails the drivers’ freedom of expression and it also acts as a symbol of their status.
On the contrary, the counsel for the state government stated that certain discipline has to be followed in relation to uniforms of drivers.
Through the plea, the petitioner alleged that hefty challans of up to Rs 20,000 are being imposed on drivers in the national capital for not wearing uniforms even though the law on the subject was “vague” and “ambiguous”.
It stated that there is complete ambiguity about the colour of uniform to be worn by auto drivers on duty as Rule 7 of the Delhi Motor Vehicles Rules, 1993 prescribes khaki but the permit conditions laid down by the state authorities mandate grey.
The plea also highlighted that there are dozens of prominent shades of both khaki and grey, and since no particular shade has been stipulated, the enforcement authorities enjoyed a huge discretion about who they wanted to prosecute.
It also stated that the uniform itself has not been defined so as to mean pant-shirt, safari suit or kurta-pyjama and that even specifications of fabrics, trims and accessories are also absent.
“The pain and damage inflicted by the vagueness and ambiguity in respect of the uniform is immense and most of the well-known metropolitan cities such as London, New York, Hong Kong, Sydney, Dubai did not prescribe any uniform for taxi drivers”, the plea stated.
Case Title: Chaalak Shakti & Ors. V. Govt of NCT of Delhi & Ors.
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