The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that the right to walk on a designated footpath is a fundamental right.
In a significant ruling, the Supreme Court held that this right should have priority over motor vehicles on designated routes and that it forms part of the right to mobility guaranteed under Article 19(1)(d) and other fundamental rights including Article 21 (right to life and liberty).
A bench of Justices PS Narasimha and AS Chandurkar held that the fundamental right of a citizen to walk on a designated footpath is fundamental and should take precedence over movement by motorized vehicles.
The Supreme Court’s announcement came in an unfortunate car accident compensation case where a father lost his five-year-old son while taking him to school.
“The right to walk is a fundamental right under Part III of the Constitution. It is an integral part of the right to movement guaranteed under Article 19(1)(d), read with Article 19(1)(a), Article 19(1)(b), Article 19(1)(c) and Article 21 of the Constitution of India. The fundamental right to walk will take within its scope the right to designated footpaths. These rights are fundamental and will have priority over movement by motor vehicles,” it ruled.
It held that the fundamental right to walk on marked footpaths has an interconnected duty and “if a road exists, it is a duty to ensure that there are marked and well-maintained footpaths for pedestrians”.
The bench said that the responsible authorities are urban development authorities, municipal corporations, municipalities and even panchayats, who should endeavor to demarcate, build, maintain and protect footpaths and other necessary infrastructure for pedestrians, as walking is an integral part of life.
“Violation of the right to walk on designated footpaths will entitle citizens to resort to constitutional and statutory remedies against those liable for restitution and compensation. This remedy is independent of the remedies available under the Motor Vehicles Act 1988,” the statement read.
It directed the registry to send the ruling to the central ministries and the Law Commission to initiate the necessary legal framework.
The Supreme Court said that human beings started walking long before wheels were put on the road and the fundamental right to movement under Article 19(1)(d) is the fundamental right to walk, a right that precedes the right to move on wheels and this precious right must extend to ensuring access to a safe and well-defined footpath.
“The fundamental right of a citizen to walk on a designated footpath is a fundamental right and should take priority over movement by motorized vehicles,” she said, adding that incidents like this one continue to occur and are perhaps inevitable until citizens restructure their system of rights with regard to road access and recognize their associated duties.
“Until then, we will continue to deal with these tragedies by routinely converting them into FIRs and car accident claims,” she said, noting that it is rather strange that people have failed to focus on recognizing and securing this “right to walk”.
“It may also be elitist initially, because wheeled machines were only for the rich, but with the advancement of economies and the introduction of cheaper cars, the whole range of motorized modes of transport have come to dominate the roads, pushing pedestrians aside to such an extent that they are treated as a nuisance by drivers who routinely run over pedestrians and footpaths. This has to stop henceforth as we declare the fundamental right to walk on designated footpaths alongside motorized roads,” the bench stressed.
She also said that the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, is not and never has been the law that recognizes the fundamental right to walk and, in fact, the law has been an impediment and, in many ways, has undermined the precious rights of pedestrians.
“The absence of safe and comfortable footpaths for walking, and even when they exist, their subordination to motorized transportation, has been a civilizational problem,” she said, adding that all the basic right to walk requires is a comfortable space for easy and carefree walking.
She stressed that the Motor Vehicles Act was built on the “vehicle” as a subject of legislation, while “human” interests are incidental, which the vehicle must avoid violating – that’s all, and nothing further.
“In its speech, the right of pedestrians is incidental; the mainstay of this legislation is the vehicle,” he noted, noting that the Court must affirm and guarantee to citizens this fundamental right to walk on designated footpaths with a clear explanation and declaration of this right with the accompanying duty to provide and maintain footpaths.
“If there is a road, there must be a duty to ensure that a footpath is demarcated and maintained for pedestrians. This is an enforceable duty. The fundamental right to walk on marked footpaths must override the privilege of a motor vehicle.”
The Supreme Court increased car accident claim compensation to $11, 44,628 lakh payable to the father of the deceased child within two months and the Supreme Court order reducing it is set aside.
It directed the registry to register the case with the title “Re: Fundamental Right to Walk and Footpaths” and requested the Center through the Ministries of Housing, Urban Affairs, Rural Development, Road Transport and Highways, as parties and to seek assistance from Assistant Secretary General KM Nataraj in the matter.
