Karnataka High Court disposes traffic congestion PIL, leaves city's woes to authorities

“The issue of traffic congestion is required to be addressed by concerned executive authorities," the court stated.

The Karnataka high court on Wednesday disposed of a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking directions to the authorities to study the traffic congestion of Bengaluru city and take up urgent and necessary construction to mitigate the problem.

“The issue of traffic congestion is required to be addressed by concerned executive authorities. We do not see it appropriate to issue any judicial direction in this regard. We expect that the concerned authorities will take necessary steps as is considered suitable," a division bench comprising Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice CM Poonacha said in the order.

The PIL was filed by AV Amarnathan, a Bengaluru based advocate. The petitioner cited a 2025 news report that Bengaluru has emerged as the second most congested city after Mexico in the world. Bengaluru was the sixth most congested city in 2023 and third in 2024, the petitioner said, explaining the worsening traffic congestion in the city.

The petitioner further quoted Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar’s statement in the media that his children also complain about the traffic congestion in Bengaluru city.

The petitioner cited an incident that occurred on November 30, 2023, when ghazal singer Hariharan was late to the event by an hour and expressed regret stating it took three hours for him to reach the auditorium from the airport. The then Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale (now Supreme court judge), who had attended the event, also agreed with the traffic congestion.

The petitioner stated that traffic congestion will not be solved with only asphalting of roads. According to the petitioner, small flyovers, in some places, may solve the problem. However, the construction of such fly overs takes enormous time which could be curtailed by proper planning and execution.