'Most livable city's' traffic jams draw Karnataka HC's attention

A day after a nationwide survey report showed Bengaluru as the most livable city, the High Court of Karnataka registered a petition on its own about frequent traffic jams due to protest demonstrations causing hardships to citizens.

A division bench headed by Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka quoted the survey while ordering the registration of the PIL petition.

“There is a survey which shows that the city of Bengaluru is the most livable city in the entire country. Therefore, it is all the more necessary to all those concerned to ensure that traffic in the city does not get affected. It will not be out of place to mention here that traffic in the heart of the city during morning and evening rush hours is a challenge to the authorities,” the bench noted.

The petition was registered based on a letter written by Justice Aravind Kumar to Chief Justice Oka quoting a newspaper report.

The report stated that morning rush-hour traffic had come to a standstill on March 2, 2021, due to various protests. Justice Kumar requested the Chief Justice to treat the letter as a PIL petition.

“We have perused the news item which showed that due to processions and protests held on March 2, 2021, there was a large-scale obstruction to traffic in the city. In fact, there have been several such instances in the recent past in the city where protests were held in a manner affecting traffic in the heart of the city of Bengaluru, thereby causing serious hardship to the citizens,” the court said.

The bench said that while the right to hold peaceful protests and demonstrations is a fundamental right, it should not affect the rights of others.

According to the court, protestors can always use Freedom Park, the designated place for demonstrations, and directed the court registry to name the state government, the Bengaluru city police commissioner, the BBMP commissioner and political parties as respondents.