Paperjam In Lawcourts

Stray menace One of the longest pending PILs — since the late 90s — to rid the city of stray cattle. On September 17,2008,the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) confessed before Chief Justice A P Shah that any action against the owners of the cattle was next to impossible due to the political backing enjoyed by them. A dozen hydraulic trucks meant to ship cattle,meanwhile,are rusting. As the next hearing is slated for July 22,the menace claimed two lives on April 4,when twins Love and Manish Jain were hit by a DTC bus after they swerved their bike to avoid a stray cow.

Urinals On February 2,2007,a Bench gave a “last warning” to the MCD and the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) to clean toilets or face contempt proceedings. The case is still pending.

No-parking zone On March 26,2007,a Bench led by Justice Swatanter Kumar declared the Lutyens’ Zone as “no-parking” area with effect from April 9,2007,to check pollution. The public would park vehicles at Delhi Gate and use public transportation,the judge had said. No action taken yet.

Tinted glasses — A flip – flop On March 26,2007,the then HC Justice Swatanter Kumar banned tinted glasses in private cars. In the next six months,the traffic police publicly stripped dark films and slapped Rs 600 fine on the violators. Film manufacturers subsequently challenged the decision,after which the HC did a U-turn,saying the ban was “in direct conflict with the Central Motor Vehicles Act.”

Save yamuna On November 3,2008,a Bench of Justices A K Sikri and Rekha Sharma bowed out of a PIL to save the Yamuna from “massive” construction work for the 2010 Games. The court allowed construction with a vague warning to builders that they were doing so on their “own peril”. In a separate verdict,Justice Sharma described the concrete invasion of the Yamuna riverbed as “a sad story of men fiddling with major issues and resultantly playing havoc”.

Nursery rhymes Six years of litigations to usher in uniformity in nursery admissions in private schools later,the HC on November 19,2007,put the responsibility of vetting admission procedures on the Directorate of Education. Irate schools moved the Supreme Court,which returned to the institutions their autonomy to decide their own admission guidelines.

Blueline blues An accident in Badarpur that killed seven commuters on October 7,2007,prompted Justice Mukul Mudgal to take suo motu cognisance to rid the city of Blueline buses. Today,about 3,500 Blueline buses form the bulwark of public commuting. Further,it is the HC that has to extend their permits every fourth month — the last one was done on March 19,2009 — for lack of an alternative. “The PIL stands to an extent diluted,” admits amicus curiae Anup J Bhambhani.

Traffic fines On March 26,2007,the HC hiked traffic fines by Rs 500 to check violators. The same year logged Rs 82.66 crore in revenue from challans — the highest in seven years. On May 6,the Supreme Court overruled the hike on a petition by liquor transporters,Brindco Sales.

MCD demolitions On October 8,2008,the HC gave in to the MCD’s persistent attack against the functioning of the much-dreaded demolition monitoring committee. The panel by this time had reclaimed 4,400 acres of public land from encroachers.

Plastic ban On July 8,2008,the HC restricted the use of plastic bags in main shopping areas. Overzealous authorities,however,went on to issue a blanket ban on January 7,2009. The campaign to save the city from plastic bags is back at the HC’s door in the form of a challenge from plastic makers.

India Gate subways On November 19,2007,Justice Mukul Mudgal pulled up the NDMC for sleeping over a Rs 8.08-crore project to build four subways under the India Gate hexagon. The Delhi Urban Arts Commission submitted proof that it had cleared the subway plans way back in 1992. The Bench mooted the idea of handing over the work to Delhi Metro. There has been no progress on this front ever since.

Free beds in hospitals An HC judgment on March 22,2007,directed hospitals on public lands to provide free 10 per cent ‘in-patient’ and 25 per cent outpatient treatment for the poor. Some private hospitals are “playing mischief”,says amicus curiae Ashok Agarwal. Today,Agarwal says,free wards can boast of only 15 to 20 per cent occupancy in 38 hospitals. A contempt of court action is pending against three hospitals — Moolchand,St Stephen’s and Rajiv Gandhi. In Apollo Hospital,only 37 of the 600 beds are reserved for the poor,an HC panel reported on April 8,2009.

Free seats in schools The 78th Report of the Public Accounts Committee of the Lok Sabha in December 2008 revealed that most schools on public land failed to provide 25 per cent reservation to poor students,in violation of a High Court direction dated May 30,2007. A panel led by V K Malhotra said the Urban Development Ministry and the DDA failed to pull up errant schools.

Illicit liquor A PIL was filed in 2006,seeking to stop the sale of illegal liquor in the Capital. While the case is pending till date,several deaths in the last two months have been blamed on hooch.