No cap on eco-friendly rickshaws, says HC

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Cycle rickshaws can ply in the national capital without any curb on their number, the Delhi high court ruled on Wednesday, saying the fundamental right to earn livelihood cannot be denied to rickshaw-pullers.

Reversing an earlier verdict of its division bench, a full bench headed by Chief Justice A P Shah quashed MCD's cap of 99,000 rickshaws on the city's roads. "The right of an individual or citizen to ply cycle rickshaws or other forms of transport falls within the legitimate exercise of his freedom guaranteed under the Fundamental Rights of the Constitution," said the Bench also comprising Justices S Ravindra Bhatt and S Muralidhar.

The court said there was no objective material which can "remotely justify" imposition of a cap and pointed out that authorities have from time to time increased the upper limit of the number of rickshaws in the national capital and it cannot be fixed.

"Scientific and rational road management is an everyday challenge faced by municipal and police authorities in view of the expansion of vehicular traffic in metropolises and big cities. However, to say that a segment of such vehicles primarily non-motorized, have to be eliminated altogether or drastically reduced, there has to be something more than a mere assumption," the court said in its 63-page verdict.

The high court warned Delhi police and other civic agencies not to harass rickshaw-pullers, saying this environment-friendly mode of transport is necessary in the city to cover short distances.

The bench also prohibited MCD from confiscating or destroying rickshaws without licences, pointing out there is no power with MCD to do so. "Bylaws to the extent they permit confiscation and scrapping of cycle rickshaws and mandate a continuing offence are without authority of law," the court held.

The court also set aside the "owner plier" policy being followed by MCD where it had insisted that only those owning a rickshaw could ply it. Reasoning that this barred poor unemployed youth from the right to earn livelihood, the judges said there was no evidence to show that renting of cycle rickshaws led to any exploitation of the poor.

Even as the court upheld zone-wise division of rickshaw plying policy made by MCD, it did comment on it, saying the agency needed to review it alongwith the decision to ban rickshaws on arterial roads. It also asked the government to ensure parking space is earmarked for cycle rickshaws.

Original news source http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/No-cap-on-eco-friendly-rickshaws-says-HC/articleshow/5558116.cms