The Supreme Court on Monday slammed several States for their casual attitude towards crucial public interest matters. At one point, Chief Justice of India J.S. Khehar was compelled to ask whether the States thought judicial proceedings in the highest court was a “joke.”
A Bench of Chief Justice Khehar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud admonished the States for failing to file responses and status reports in court despite several opportunities.
States were caught napping in a row of public interest litigation (PIL) petitions which came up for hearing, right from installation of speed governors in public transport vehicles to curb road accidents to industrial pollution to even mid-day meals in schools.
A visibly annoyed Chief Justice greeted the States’ lame explanations and requests for adjournment by asking whether they thought whether “this is a joke court?”
Lack of urgency
“This is not a panchayat,” Justice Khehar said at one point in the speed governors’ hearing. The Bench ordered State Transport Secretaries who had neglected to file their responses to be present in court on the next date of hearing after four weeks. They will have to lug with them all the records pertaining to the issue.
The States’ lack of urgency got brickbats in the two hearings concerning mid-day meals and industrial pollution. The PIL plea on industrial pollution filed by the Gujarat-based NGO, Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti, was filed five years ago in 2012. The Bench found that several States had not bothered to file responses.
In the speed governors’ case, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Tripura, Bihar, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh had not filed their replies.
Justice Khehar asked the lawyers at one point whether the court needed to summon State Chief Secretaries instead.
Noting that months have passed without any response from Transport Departments of various States, the Bench clarified that Transport Secretaries of the States, who were served notices but did not file response, would appear in person.
Road casualties
The court was hearing a PIL plea filed by NGO Suraksha Foundation highlighting the large number of casualties on Indian roads. The NGO had sought intervention from the apex court with the States to install speed governors to rein in speeding public transport vehicles.
