BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday dealt with a public interest litigation filed by a city-based advocate, whose car roof has a garden, seeking directions to the state and Union governments to conduct a survey and formulate a scheme to have similar ‘moving gardens’ on vehicles, saying it may help in the maintenance of ecology and environment.
The petitioner is S K Suresh, a lawyer by profession. The court orally appreciated the cause of the petitioner, but declined to entertain the petition as a PIL, citing several reasons.
Providing news reports about a mobile garden perched atop a purple Tata Nano car owned by him, Suresh pleaded that he has converted his car’s roof into a small garden as he doesn’t want Bengaluru to become another New Delhi.
“Issuing such directions as sought by the petitioner is certainly an encroachment and impeachment of an individual’s choice. Secondly, a person has the right not to use his vehicle for any purpose other than transportation. Asking a person to have a moving garden compulsorily on his vehicle is again an impeachment of a personal individual right. Modification of the vehicle may not be consonance with Motor Vehicle Acts or Rules,” observed a division bench of Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale and Justice Ashok S Kinagi.
The petitioner submitted that there would be an increase in oxygen due to moving gardens and a such attempt would help in arresting the pollution.