Court: Madrash High Court
Bench: Admitted by Bench of M.M.SUNDRESH, J. and R.HEMALATHA, J.
Case No. W.P. No. 11041 of 2020
Case Title: Vaishnavi Jayakumar Vs. State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities & CMRL
Case admitted on : 21.08.2020
Next Date: 27.07.2022
Case Brief
This Writ Petition has been filed by our colleague Ms. Vashnavi Jayakumar of Disabilty Rights Alliance, under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying for issuance of Writ of Mandamus Directing the 2nd respondent i.e. Chennai Metrol Rail Ltd. to forthwith retrofit its existing metro stations to comply with the Harmonised Guidelines and space standards for Barrier Free BuiltEnvironment for persons with Disabilities and Elderly Persons issued by the Ministry of Urban Development in 2016 and to strictly comply with section 41 of the Rights of persons with Disabilities Act 2016 read with Rule 15 of Rights of persons with Disabilities Rules 2017 in the design and Construction of metro Stations under Construction, including stations planned in the future.
The petitioner informed the court that the metro stations constructed by the respondent CMRL were in violation of the law and were not universally accessible. As per the petitioner, the following features needed to be included in the stations:
i. Anti-reflective flooring which contrasts with walls in colour and is non-slip in dry or wet conditions (resistance of 40-70)ii. Wheelchair accessible ticket counter with audio induction loop for hearing aid usersiii. Accessible kiosks for blind passengers and wheelchair users.iv. High contrast signage, displays, information tools and controls with multimodal communicationv. Sliding doors for accessible toiletsvi. Universally designed safety and evacuation equipmentvii. Tactile, high contrast way-findingviii. Accessible parking
Through various interim orders, all the 32 Metro stations of the CMRL were access audited to see if they meet the requirements of the Harmonised Guidelines and Space Standards 2016 and the respondent has been implementing the same to comply with law.
On 11 Sep 2020, the bench of Mr. Justice MM Sundresh and MRs. Justice R. Hemalatha directed the first respondent to depute his officials to undertake inspection exercise after making inspection to the existing Metro Rail Stations and file a report on the sufficiency of the infrastructure facilities qua disabled persons. A report in this regard will have to be filed on or before 06.10.2020.
On 11 Dec 2020, the learned counsel for the petitioner had drawn the attention of the Court to Rule 15 of the Right of Persons with Disabilities Rules 2017, as well as the order of ad-interim direction dated 28.06.2016 made in WP.No. 38224/2005 titled Rajiv Rajan Vs. CMD, Metropolitan Transport Corporn (Chennai) Ltd. and submitted that in the light of the mandate cast upon the relevant statutory provisions, it is obligatory rather mandatory upon the 2nd respondent to strictly comply with the said provisions so as to make the Metro Rail Stations as well as travel disabled friendly and prays for appropraite directions.
On 15 June 2022 the counsel for the second respondent/CMRL submitted that the matter may be taken up after six weeks so that they can take further action to comply with the Harmonised Guidelines and space standards for Barrier Free Built Environment for persons with Disabilities and Elderly Persons. It is, however, submitted that except this, necessary action has already been taken, leaving few, which would also be taken up within the period of six weeks.
In view of the submissions made by CMRL, the respondents have been given time to take necessary action. The matter has been posted to July 27 for further hearing
Watch out this space for the developments.