Maharashtra Govt Faces Growing Criticism From Bombay HC Over Inaction On Public Issues And Legal Violations

Mumbai: The state government is increasingly getting pulled up of late by the Bombay high court on a number of issues of public importance. "If the administration was alive to the issues being agitated before the high court such a situation would not have arisen," a bureaucrat observed, not wanting to be identified.

During the course of a public interest litigation on the issue of hawkers occupying public spaces, the high court recently came down heavily on the government for its gross failure to curb the menace of illegal hawkers.

A division bench of the court comprising Justice Ajay Gadkari and Justice Kamal Khata understandably went to the extent of stating that the State must clarify its stand on whether it will comply with the court's orders or not or let people take law into their hands and do whatever they feel like.

The problem of illegal hawkers has become a huge problem all over Mumbai with the vendors completely taking over pavements and even roads in several parts of the metropolis. For instance, outside CST, Dadar, Ghatkopar, Andheri, Borivli, Dadar and other railway stations pedestrians, BEST bus drivers, and motorists have a tough time negotiating the roads.

The HC-mandated rule that 150 metres from railway stations should be declared as no-hawking zones is violated with impunity by all assistant municipal commissioners.

Repeated complaints to the ward offices yield no response. In Chembur, in front of Sawan Bazar on station road two hawkers have taken over the footpath forcing citizens to walk on the road despite heavy vehicular traffic.

On the vexed issue of thousands of illegal hoardings all over the city and suburbs, a division bench of the then chief justice D.K. Upadhyay and Justice Amit Borkar noted: "The court had in its earlier orders taken on record the undertaking given by political parties. However, it appears that these political parties have not come true with the same."

The government's stand was that it was difficult to file FIRs because the person whose photo appears on a hoarding may not be the one who has actually erected it. However, the person, for example, greeting a 'neta' on his birthday often prints his own photo and name on the hoarding and it should be possible for the BMC to file an FIR against him.

"There is absolutely no bureaucratic will to put an end to the menace of illegal hoardings. In fact, the administration wants to be in the good books of politicians," Dr Gaurang Vora, a prominent activist noted. The government is not able to stop the erection of illegal hoardings even in front Mantralaya, which is the seat of power.

More recently, the HC slammed the Nagpur Municipal Corporation for illegally bulldozing parts of the house of a person who was suspected to be the mastermind of the recent riots in the city. The court found that the civic body had carried out the demolition in flagrant violation of Supreme Court's directive.

The civic chief Abhijeet Chaudhari told the court that the state government had not issued any circular about the apex court's directive and since he was ignorant of that he went ahead and carried out the demolition. His affidavit showed the state government in poor light in a matter of extreme legal importance.

On Friday, the HC again rapped the government for failing to transfer the papers and file an FIR against the policemen involved in the suspected fake encounter of the accused Akshay Shinde in the Badlapur rape case. The court had to keep back the matter as many as five times since no proper response was forthcoming from the government.