IMPORTANT POINTS
“Safeguarding the interests of weaker sections of society, including the handicapped and mentally retarded”. The legal discussions as above are a clear and splendid indicator to think that the Cochin Corporation is obligated to discharge the statutory duties mandatorily taking into account the Constitutional duties and responsibilities to protect the interests of the differently abled persons.

JUDGMENT :

SHAJI P. CHALY, J.

This is a Public Interest Litigation filed by the Chairperson of an NGO namely Centre for Empowerment and Enrichment (CEFEE). According to the petitioner, she volunteers and aims primarily to enable differently abled children to come up to the limelight of the society and to live in dignity in the society. As is evident from Ext.P2, CEFEE had functioned as the Nodal Agency of District Administration, Ernakulam for its project “Jyothi Educational Project”, 2015 and 2017. In this writ petition, the petitioner espouses the hardships, inconvenience, dangers and threats to the life frequently faced and confronted by differently abled children, men and women, due to the lack of safe and proper footpaths and allied facilities within the area of the Corporation of Kochi, the first respondent herein.

2. The case projected by the petitioner is that the Corporation of Kochi as well as the Public Works Department and their Nodal Agencies have the duty and the responsibility to ensure that the differently abled people are able to enjoy their rights to walk freely and fearlessly within the limits of Kochi city by providing safe and hindrance free footpaths to access the roads. According to the petitioner, the respondents have miserably failed to protect the rights and interests of the differently abled people by curtailing their right due to the poor maintenance of footpaths within the limits of the Kochi city, thereby affecting their fundamental right for free movement and to practice any profession or to carry on any occupation, trade or business, right to livelihood etc. It is also submitted that Section 346 of the Kerala Municipality Act, 1994 ('Act, 1994' for short) casts duty on the first respondent Corporation to make the public streets and bridges vested in it and under the control of it to be maintained and repaired at the cost of the municipal fund and to meet the cost of all improvements to the same, which are necessary or expedient for the public safety or convenience. Therefore, the Municipal Corporation as well as the Public Works Department are duty bound to discharge their duties by making appropriate, timely and proper repairs of the public roads vested in them under law so as to facilitate the requirements of differently abled persons also, and though the petitioner had approached the Corporation and the Public Works Department with Exts. P4 and P5 representations no action was initiated by them to redress the grievances, which persuaded the petitioner to approach this Court. In the above background, the following reliefs are sought for:

1. Issue a writ of mandamus or other appropriate writ, direction or order directing the respondents to ensure that all existing footpaths abutting the public roads/streets within the territorial jurisdiction of the first respondent are with even surface and continuity and to erect railing in between the public roads and footpaths, and also to remove all kinds of encroachments on the footpaths, to ensure free and safe movement of differently abled people.

2. Direct the first respondent Corporation to make improvements in the existing footpaths abutting all the public roads/streets within the territorial jurisdiction of the first respondent so as to make it user friendly to the differently abled or in the alternative,

3. Permit the petitioner and the NGO, Center for Empowerment and Enrichment to which the petitioner is the Chairman to make improvements in the existing footpaths abutting all the public roads/streets within the territorial jurisdiction of the first respondent so as to make it user friendly to the differently abled.

4. Issue a direction or order to the respondents to favourably consider Exts.P4, P5 and similar representations submitted by the petitioner before them.

3. Counter Affidavits are filed by the Kochi Metro Rail Limited and the Kochi Smart Mission Limited, respondents 4 and 5, explaining and narrating the role played by them in the development of