CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court has expressed strong displeasure over Cuttack collector Dattatraya Bhausaheb Shinde’s attempt to replace a committee constituted by it to tackle the city’s worsening traffic congestion, calling the move “presumptuous” and a breach of the “Laxman Rekha” of propriety.
“What is more disconcerting is that the deponent, in the garb of seeking review/modification, is trying to act as an appellate authority over an order passed by this Court,” the two-judge bench of Justice KR Mohapatra and Justice V Narasingh observed, while rejecting the collector’s application seeking modification of the court’s August 13 order.
While hearing a PIL, the bench had constituted the committee, headed by the DCP, Cuttack, with an ADM representing the district administration, a deputy commissioner of Cuttack Municipal Corporation and an officer of equivalent rank from Cuttack Development Authority. Its mandate was to ease traffic congestion, remove obstructions on roads and drains and prevent their recurrence.
The collector suggested replacing the ADM with a tehsildar stating that the objective could be better served. Alternatively, he proposed entrusting the task to the district road safety committee.
Taking exception to the collector’s approach, the bench observed, “The deponent seeking substitution of the ADM by tehsildar evidently labours under the misconception that this court is not aware of hierarchical dispensation and functional efficacy of various authorities.”
The bench said it was already aware of the traffic management committee constituted in 2011 and the district road safety committee, but had consciously opted for a separate panel because of the complexity of Cuttack’s traffic problems. The court also pointed out that the traffic management committee, headed by the police commissioner, was in a state of suspended animation, while traffic congestion had reached alarming proportions.
The bench also questioned, “If the District Road Safety Committee is even remotely functional, why are the roads of this ancient city and the highways leading to it in such an abysmal condition, resulting in mishaps and accidents every single day?”
It further said the collector, “despite his persuasive eloquence”, could not justify suggesting that a court-appointed committee be replaced by one headed by himself. The court, however, took a lenient view, treating it as an error of judgement.
The matter has been posted for September 10, with the order also asking the registry to communicate it to chief secretary Anu Garg for information.