HC asks govts for response on plea seeking restart of public transport
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought the responses of the central and Delhi governments on a plea seeking resumption of the public transport services in the city.
Most public transport has been suspended since the lockdown on March 25 although some services ran to ferry only those in essential services.
During the third phase of the lockdown, scheduled to end on May 17, the central government had allowed some relaxations. These included allowing government and private offices but with only a third of its workforce.
However, most public transport remained suspended in the national capital.
A bench of Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw and Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal issued notices to the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Delhi government on the plea by law student Shreesh Chadha who also sought directions to frame guidelines for ensuring the safety and hygiene of the passengers while commuting.
The plea was filed through advocate Prashant Vaxish. It sought that the public transport be resumed while mandating social distancing norms.
Vaxish pointed out that data from the Supreme Court-appointed pollution monitoring committee Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority [EPCA], about 2.5 million people use the Delhi Transport Corporation buses every day. Similarly, the Delhi Metro records a ridership of 1.5 million daily. The counsel used these numbers to argue that the public heavily depended on public transport, in the absence of which they are left in the lurch.
He highlighted that people were suffering losses for not being able to attend their offices due to this.
The counsels for both the Centre and the Delhi government accepted the notice following which the court posted the matter for May 20.
Meanwhile, an impleadment application was also filed in the matter by advocate Karan Mathur, who had filed a writ stating that the caretakers for the disabled persons are not being able to come because the transport is not working.
“My petition was disposed of as the Centre listed out the steps it had taken. However, since one of the grievances regarding the public transport was not resolved, I moved an impleadment in the matter to be heard as the party. The court has accepted my request,” Mathur said.