Summary
In applications concerning the Matheran eco-sensitive zone, the Supreme Court accepted the expert reports of IIT Bombay and NEERI and permitted clay paver blocks (without a concrete bed) on the Dasturi Naka to Shivaji Maharaj Statue road only, and held that the practice of humans towing hand-pulled carts/rickshaws offends human dignity and the constitutional promise of social and economic justice reflected in Articles 23 and 38, directing the State of Maharashtra to stop it within six months and to rehabilitate the pullers through an e-rickshaw hire scheme modelled on the Kevadia scheme, with allotments identified by the Matheran Monitoring Committee.
Issues
- Whether paver blocks should be permitted on the main road from Dasturi Naka to Shivaji Maharaj Statue in Matheran and, if so, of what type.
- Whether the practice of hand-pulled carts/rickshaws in Matheran should continue, and whether e-rickshaws should be permitted on that road.
- How many e-rickshaws should be permitted and to whom they should be allotted, and how the hand cart/rickshaw pullers should be rehabilitated.
Provisions considered
- Article 23, Constitution of IndiaRelying on People's Union for Democratic Rights, the Court reiterated that Article 23 abolishes every form of forced labour, even if remunerated or rooted in a contract, where labour is supplied not willingly but from compulsion; persons towing hand carts/rickshaws in Matheran do so only because they have no other livelihood, and permitting the practice belittles the constitutional promise of social and economic justice. (¶¶ 32, 33, 34)
- Article 38 and the Directive Principles of State Policy, Constitution of IndiaFollowing Azad Rickshaw Pullers' Union, the Court held that rickshaw pulling is inconsistent with the preambular promise of social justice in Article 38 and that the State should progressively replace it with mechanical propulsion; the State's duty under the Directive Principles requires a rehabilitation scheme so that pullers are not deprived of livelihood. (¶¶ 35, 36, 37, 45)
Held
- The Court will not sit in appeal over the wisdom of experts; as both IIT Bombay and NEERI found that laying clay paver blocks is necessary and the best solution to arrest soil erosion on the Matheran mud road, their recommendation was accepted. (¶¶ 22, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
- Forced labour in whatever form is violative of human dignity and hit by Article 23 even when remunerated; the practice of one human being towing other human beings in hand carts/rickshaws, still prevalent in Matheran 45 years after Azad Rickshaw Pullers' Union, hits at human dignity and betrays the promise of social and economic justice, and must be stopped forthwith. (¶¶ 33, 34, 40, 41, 42, 43)
- Stopping the practice must be accompanied by rehabilitation: e-rickshaws, which are environment friendly and prevent practices hitting individual dignity, provide the answer, and the State, bound by the Directive Principles, must frame a rehabilitation scheme modelled on the Kevadia (Statue of Unity) scheme under which an authority owns the e-rickshaws and hires them out daily for a fixed amount to genuine pullers and other underprivileged persons including Adivasi women. (¶¶ 44, 45, 46, 47, 48)
- Directions: clay paver blocks may be laid only on the Dasturi Naka to Shivaji Maharaj Statue road, with no concrete bed but with the IIT Bombay and NEERI drainage and erosion measures, any concrete blocks or bedding already laid to be replaced; no paver blocks on internal roads or trekking routes, which remain for trekkers and horse-dependent persons; hand-pulled carts/rickshaws to be stopped in a phased manner within six months; the Matheran Monitoring Committee chaired by the Collector, Raigad to identify genuine pullers (who get priority) and fix the number of e-rickshaws, the rest going to underprivileged persons, preferably Adivasi women; the State to bear training costs, may use CSR funds, and cannot plead lack of funds; Matheran's character as a pedestrian hill station to be maintained as far as possible. (¶ 49)
Result
Applications disposed of with directions: clay paver blocks permitted on the main road without a concrete bed; hand-pulled carts/rickshaws to be stopped within six months; State of Maharashtra to evolve an e-rickshaw hire scheme on the Kevadia model, with allottees identified by the Matheran Monitoring Committee under the Collector, Raigad.