The Bombay High Court (HC) on Tuesday, October 8, decided to reopened a public interest litigation (PIL) from 2018 concerning potholes and poor road conditions in Mumbai. The PIL originally dealt with the maintenance of roads in Mumbai and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).
A division bench led by Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyay and Justice Amit Borkar was hearing a contempt petition filed by Advocate Ruju Thakkar. In the petition, Thakkar had accused civic officials of not following the court's 2018 directives to fix potholes.
The court emphasised that the respondents did not violate the previous orders from February 24 and April 12, 2018. The bench ruled that the authorities had made efforts to comply with the directives. Therefore, the authorities could not be held in contempt, and the petition was dismissed by the court.
However, the court agreed that although the authorities had made efforts, they needed to continue working to improve road conditions. The court found it challenging to keep issuing orders in the contempt case alone and decided to revisit the original PIL for proper compliance.
As a result, the PIL from 2018 was revived considering the issue of road maintenance was a matter of public importance and needed continuous attention. A bench consisting of Chief Justice Upadhyay and Justice Borkar stated that the revival of the PIL was important in view of fundamental rights under Article 21.
The High Court has now asked the respondents to take immediate corrective actions and fully comply with the court’s directives. The respondents will have to submit a compliance report within eight weeks. If they fail to do so, further measures will be taken. The next hearing on the PIL is scheduled for December 3, 2024.
In 2018, Justice Abhay Oka had issued orders as part of the suo motu PIL. The orders had required the repair of potholes on major city roads. It also asked for a standard system to handle complaints from residents about poor road conditions.
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