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The high court was hearing a Suo Moto Public Interest Litigation (PIL) registered by the high court after it received an email from a 25-year-old Shivaji Park resident, Karan Shah, who has been wheelchair-bound since birth.
The Bombay High Court on Wednesday pulled up the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and questioned how its officers could be so unmindful in installing bollards on the footpath, which obstructs people using wheelchairs.
"...See the kind of bollards that are installed. How can BMC be so unmindful? How can your officers be so unmindful. It is not that BMC has not put in effort or used money. The officers who installed this should be taken to task. A person using a wheelchair is unable to pass through it," the bench said.
The division bench of the High Court, comprising Chief Justice Devendra K Upadhyaya and Justice Arif Doctor, was hearing a Suo Moto Public Interest Litigation (PIL) registered by the high court after it received an email from a 25-year-old Shivaji Park resident, Karan Shah, who has been wheelchair-bound since birth.
In his email, Karan stated that the bollards installed by the BMC on the footpaths made it impossible for wheelchair users to pass through.
On Wednesday, Senior Advocate Anil Singh, appearing for the BMC, informed the division bench that the corporation has formulated a new 'Footpath Policy,' and the issue faced by wheelchair users would be rectified.
Singh informed the bench that the corporation was undertaking a survey, and it has already completed the survey of 12 out of 24 wards. He submitted that it would take some time for the corporation to implement the policy and that one meter distance would be made between two bollards.
The division bench directed the BMC to file a detailed affidavit about the survey conducted and the steps that would be taken to address the defects so that differently-abled persons and elders may have universal access.
The bench also orally remarked that action should have been taken against the officers.
"See to it that if such things are found, that you remove defects. You should take action against the officers. How can they be so unmindful?" the bench said.
The high court will now hear the suo moto PIL on 7th February.
Case title: High Court On Its Own Motion
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