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2026 Supreme(Ker) 1067
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
BECHU KURIAN THOMAS, J.
Tritvam Apartment Owners Association (TAOA) – Petitioner
Versus
The District Collector – Respondent
Wp(C) No. 6851 Of 2026
Decided On : 22-06-2026
Important Points
Subject
Constitutional Law - Fundamental Rights and Urban Planning
Act Referred
CONSTITUTION OF INDIA : Art.21
Headnote
(B) Municipal Governance - Public Streets - Vesting of land - Statutory provisions requiring public thoroughfares and associated pedestrian paths to vest in local municipal authorities regardless of historical land assignment to development bodies. (Paras 17, 18, 19)
(C) Urban Planning - Pedestrian zones - Commercial use of footpaths - Installation of commercial kiosks on pedestrian spaces violates the primary purpose of public infrastructure and hampers safety. (Paras 28, 30)
Facts of the case:
The petitioners challenged the proposed establishment and operation of commercial kiosks on a public walkway. The respondents asserted ownership of the area and claimed that the project was a development initiative intended to provide public facilities. The petitioners contended that the infrastructure was designed exclusively for pedestrians and cyclists and that the introduction of commercial structures would obstruct free movement, degrade the purpose of the walkway, and fall within the jurisdiction of the local municipal authority rather than the development body.
Findings of Court:
The court found that public roads and footpaths, by statutory mandate, vest in the local municipal authority once they are designated as public streets. The court emphasized that the protection of pedestrian zones is essential to public safety and personal liberty. It was determined that the development authority lacked the jurisdiction to repurpose public pedestrian pathways for commercial activities, as such actions infringe upon the constitutional rights of the citizens to travel without obstruction.
Issues: 1. Whether a development body maintains authority over a public road and its associated footpaths. 2. Whether public pedestrian footpaths can be converted into commercial zones for private kiosks.
Ratio Decidendi: The fundamental right to walk is an essential element of personal liberty and the right to movement. Any reduction of pedestrian infrastructure for commercial activity is contrary to the constitutional obligation to provide safe, unobstructed public pathways. Since the walkway functions as a public street, it vested exclusively with the local municipal authority, and its conversion into a commercial area was found to be legally unauthorized and violative of the right to free mobility.
Result: Writ petition allowed; a command issued to the respondents to refrain from constructing, installing, or operating commercial kiosks on the pedestrian walkway.
Key Points: - The right to walk is a fundamental right under the Constitution, integral to personal liberty and movement, and imposes a duty on authorities to maintain clear pedestrian spaces (!) (!) (!) . - Public roads and footpaths vest absolutely in the local municipal authority, and a development body lacks jurisdiction to repurpose them for commercial use (!) (!) (!) . - Footpaths cannot be used for commercial kiosks as it violates pedestrian safety and free movement, and commercial activity is prohibited in non-vending zones under street vending laws (!) (!) (!) . - The construction of kiosks on footpaths restricts pedestrian and cyclist movement, endangers safety, and is legally unauthorized (!) (!) (!) . - The writ petition is allowed, directing respondents to refrain from constructing, installing, or operating kiosks on the Queens Walkway (!) (!) .
What are the rights of pedestrians concerning footpath usage and protection from commercial encroachment?
What is the authority of a development body over public roads and footpaths?
Can footpaths be repurposed for commercial kiosks under statutory law?
For The Petitioner: Advs., Sri.S.Muhammed Haneeff, Sri.M.H.Asif Ali, Shri.Ashik Ali M.H., Smt.Aswathi K.C., Smt.Vismaya Jayaraj
For The Respondent: Advs., Sri.George Poonthottam, Sr. Sri.Varghese K.Paul, Shri.Anoop V.Nair, Sri.Naveen T. Kum.Chithra Chandrasekharan, Sri.V.S.Abhishek, Shri.Biji A Manikoth, Shri.Shibu Joseph Kottayil, Smt.M.U.Vijayalakshmi, Sri.Brijesh Mohan, Sri.Unni Sebastian Kappan Sr. Govt. Pleader
| Table of Content |
|---|
| 1. introduction to pedestrian rights in public spaces and the dispute over kiosk construction. (Para 1 , 2 , 3 , 4) |
| 2. summary of rival contentions regarding land authority and the legality of commercial use on walkways. (Para 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12) |
| 3. determining public road vesting in the local municipal corporation under km act, 1994. (Para 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19) |
| 4. fundamental right to walk and prohibition of commercial kiosks on demarcated pedestrian walkways. (Para 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29) |
| 5. mandamus issued prohibiting the construction and operation of kiosks on the queens walkway. (Para 30) |
JUDGMENT :
BECHU KURIAN THOMAS, J.
Walking is the most independent, advantageous and healthiest mode of travel. Hippocrates - the father of medicine, described walking as man's best medicine. Unfortunately, in our craving for progress and commercial gain, the simplest and most advantageous form of human activity - walking, has been forgotten and the pedestrian ignored. Even areas designed and created with a vision, intended for the safety and convenience of pedestrians, are soon engulfed in commercial interests resulting in conversion of those safe environs into business prospects. This, sums up the situation arising in this case.
2. Petitioners question the construction, installation and operation of commercial kiosks proposed to be set up on a walkway/footpath, situated in front of their apartment complex. They allege that their right to a safe and unobstructed pedestrian walk is attempted to be intruded upon, by the proposed construction of kiosks on the pedestrian footpaths.
3. Petitioners allege that a walkway named 'Queens Walkway' by the side of the backwaters of Kochi, was developed by the Goshree Islands Development Authority (for short ‘GIDA’) and Cochin Smart Mission Limited (for short 'CSML'). Petitioners allege that GIDA has put forth a proposal to construct commercial kiosks on the Queens Walkway, which will, not only destroy the walkway, but also create traffic congestion, health risks and even overburden the civic infrastructure. Petitioners also allege that GIDA lacks the statutory authority under the Kerala Town and Country Planning Act, 2016, (for brevity ‘the Act’) to establish, permit or even facilitate any commercial kiosks, on a walkway intended for public benefit.
4. Petitioners further allege that the Queens Walkway was conceived and developed by CSML, with the objective of providing a bicycle track and a jogging track along with a comfortable pedestrian footpath. Several tree saplings were also planted on the entire stretch of the walkway. However, when GIDA proposed to establish and relocate 20 commercial shops/kiosks along the walkway, including in the front of petitioner’s apartment complex, a representation was submitted before the authorities, pointing out the serious consequences that may ensue in illegally converting the walkway into an area of commercial activity. Petitioners have asserted that, introduction of such commercial kiosks on the Queens Walkway, will destroy its character and purpose, increase the traffic congestion, and even cause serious health hazards, apart from being in violation of mandatory provisions of law. Petitioners have also questioned GIDA’s authority to set up establishments of a commercial nature on footpaths or regulate the grant of licenses, which are matters within the domain of the local authority.
5. In the counter affidavit filed by respondents 2 and 3, it is alleged that the Goshree-Chathiyath road is under the ownership and authority of GIDA and hence they have the absolute right to utilize the said pathway for any activity. It is also stated that GIDA had approved a special project for Queens Walkway named as ‘GIDA Happiness Zone Project’ to provide quality open spaces for the public and to transform the walkway by providing various facilities matching international standards including eateries, thereby improving
