CHENNAI: Madras High Court on Wednesday stressed that the State government should not procure buses that are not disabled-friendly. “If we find what you have done is contrary to the statute, then you have to undo the same,” the High Court told the State government.
It, however, refused to stop the purchase of over 4,000 buses for the state transport corporations through German funding. The issue pertains to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) moved by one Vaishnavi Jayakumar, a disability rights activist, challenging the decision of the Tamil Nadu government that only 10 per cent of the buses procured for the MTC would be the disabled-friendly low-floor buses and that another 25 per cent would have a lift mechanism or any other system for wheelchairs.
The First Bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy passed the directions after it was submitted that the High Court in 2016 itself had said that buses plying on every route should be disabled-friendly and that there should not be select routes for such buses.
Advocate T Mohan, the amicus curiae appointed by the court, said that since 2017 the state transport corporation has procured 4,817 new buses that are not disabled-friendly, completely violating the court order.
The Bench expressed its disappointment by pointing out that Section 41 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act emphasised the provision that mandates the government to establish facilities for persons with disabilities at bus stops, railway stations, and airports conforming to the accessibility standards relating to parking spaces, toilets, ticketing counters and ticketing machines. The court adjourned the petition for the State government to file a report.
Amicus curiae findings
Advocate T Mohan, the amicus curiae appointed by the High Court, said that since 2017 the state transport corporation has procured 4,817 new buses that are not disabled-friendly, completely violating the High Court’s order.