MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Thursday sought response from the state government on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition seeking direction to repair all damaged government buses in Tamil Nadu.
The litigant KK Ramesh of Madurai stated that the eight transport corporations run by the state government have suffered nearly Rs 48,000 crore loss so far. This is due to several irregularities in the purchase of spare parts and other important machineries, he alleged. Since poor quality spare parts are used and there is no proper maintenance, buses get damaged easily, leading to accidents, he added. He referred to several accidents involving government buses across the state to support this.
Ramesh further claimed that most buses plying now were bought 15 years ago, which is against the Motor Vehicles Act, 2016. Drivers spend their own money to replace basic parts like rear view mirrors and brake shoes among others, he added. If the quality of the buses improve and are maintained in good condition, it would help corporations earn a profit without the need for hiking the fare, Ramesh suggested and sought the above direction.
A bench comprising Justices MS Ramesh and AD Maria Clete directed authorities to file a counter affidavit and adjourned the case to February 20.