Matheran E-Rickshaw Allotment : Supreme Court Gives Time To Maharashtra Govt For Fresh Proposal, Rejects State's Objection To District Judge's Report

The Supreme Court today granted 2 weeks' time to the State of Maharashtra to furnish a proposal for revisiting the process of allotment of 20 e-rickshaw licenses to original hand-cart pullers in the pedestrian hill-town of Matheran.

A bench of Justices BR Gavai and AG Masih was dealing with the issues pertaining to a pilot e-rickshaw project in the hill-town. It passed the order after Maharashtra's counsel submitted that it would be appropriate for the state to undertake the allotment process afresh.

"Two weeks' time is granted to the state government to come out with a proposal for revisiting the process of allotment of e-rickshaws", dictated Justice Gavai.

Before parting, taking into account their valuable assistance in the matter, the Court ordered the Centrally Empowered Committee to tender, as a token, sums of Rs.10 lakhs and Rs.5 lakhs each to Senior Advocate K Parmeswar (acting as Amicus) and two other counsels respectively.

Notably, Senior Advocate Devdatt Kamat (for handcart-pullers) submitted during the hearing that the report submitted by Principal District Judge, Raigad over the allotment of licenses was "completely flawed", not based on correct appreciation of material and might be required to be re-done by the judge or the state. Rejecting the submission, the bench said,

"We are not inclined to accept the submission of Mr Kamat inasmuch as the report is prepared by a responsible, senior judicial officer." Justice Gavai also orally told Kamat, "I know that officer personally, so don't make any aspersions".

At one point, even Maharashtra's counsel submitted that the District Judge's report may not be entirely factually correct, responding to which Justice Gavai exclaimed, "Don't say that! Your officers can be under pressure, not our judiciary".

To recap, the issue arose out of an application filed by three representative associations of horsemen, or ghodawala sangathans, seeking modification of an earlier order that permitted implementation of eco-friendly e-rickshaws in Matheran, on an experimental basis, to check their feasibility to replace hand-pulled rickshaws plying in the area.

The Court had earlier clarified that e-rickshaws could only be provided to present-day handcart pullers, in order to compensate them for their loss of employment and restricted the number of e-rickshaws in the city to 20. In April, 2024, it called for an affidavit from the state of Maharashtra, as to who were earlier handcart pullers and to whom the license to ply e-rickshaws were given, as well as the details of persons who purchased e-rickshaws.

In July, a dispute arose as to who were allotted the e-rickshaws/licenses. While the state claimed that the allotment was made in favor of original handcart pullers, the applicants (associations of horsemen) alleged that allotments were made to hotel owners, etc. Considering, the Court asked the Principal District Judge, Raigad to call an enquiry and submit a report.

In November, Amicus Parmeswar, relying on the report of the Principal District Judge, claimed that the state government made a "mockery" of the Court's order. He alleged that out of 20 licenses, only 4 were given to handcart pullers while the rest went to journalists, Nagar Palika employees, hotel managers, etc. Taking note, the Court expressed displeasure with the state authorities and adjourned the matter for them to respond to the Principal District Judge's report.

Background

The interlocutory application was filed in the TN Godavarman Thirumulpad case, an omnibus forest protection matter in which the top court issued the longest-standing continuing mandamus in the field of environmental litigation. Since 1996, when the writ jurisdiction of the court was invoked by a plea to protect the Nilgiris forest, numerous orders have been passed on a vast array of issues, such as deforestation, logging, mining, compensatory afforestation, and endangered species.

In 2002, a Central Empowered Committee (CEC) was constituted for monitoring the implementation of the court's orders and bringing to its attention incidents of non-compliance.

On 12 May, 2022, the Court permitted State of Maharashtra to implement its proposal to introduce a few eco-friendly e-rickshaw in Matheran Eco-sensitive Zone, on an experimental basis, to check its feasibility to replace the hand-pulled rickshaws plying in the area.

Subsequently, applications were filed by three representative associations of the horsemen, or ghodawala sangathans, seeking modification of the permission to operate eco-friendly e-rickshaws in the Matheran ESZ. The two main issues raised as a result were: permitting e-rickshaws in Matheran; and (ii) laying down of paver blocks etc. on the roads in Matheran.

In February, 2023, the Court stayed laying of concrete paver blocks in Matheran ESZ, until the Monitoring Committee (constituted by virtue of a 2003 notification by the Ministry of Environment and Forests) took a call on the issue and submitted a report. In November, the State was permitted to continue the e-rickshaw pilot project in Matheran, until further orders.

In January, 2024, the Court clarified that e-rickshaws, if permitted, in the city of Matheran would be only for present handcart pullers, so as to compensate them on account of their loss of employment.

In April, the Court allowed the number of e-rickshaws in Matheran to be restricted to 20 and permitted e-rickshaw owners, who were earlier handcart pullers, to use the same for transporting tourists and local population.

Case Title: In Re: T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad v. Union of India & Ors. | Writ Petition (Civil) No. 202 of 1995