‘Blame judges’ old cars for bumpy ride, not potholes’

BMC told the high court that its engineers worked tirelessly to fill the potholes despite being targeted by the media and politicians.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has blamed the bumpy ride endured by high court judges on their old cars and not the potholes on the roads, insisting that its engineers are working tirelessly “day and night” to repair them even as they get targeted over bad roads.

“The cars of the high court judges are old and their suspension might not be working. Hence, judges feel the jerks in their cars. Potholes must not be blamed for this,” BMC’s counsel Anil Sakhare stated before the HC on Friday.

He further said that the media and political leaders should stop blaming the BMC’s engineers for the potholes. “Our engineers are working hard to fill up potholes in the city. The media and political parties should stop blaming BMC on the pothole issue as the BMC is filling up potholes on a war–footing,” he said. The HC was hearing a suo moto PIL regarding potholes in the city. Mr Sakhare further said, “In 2014, Justice Gautam Patel of the high court had written a letter to then Chief Justice Mohit Shah about the bad condition of roads, which letter turned into a suo moto PIL and the court had started hearing on it.” On Friday, this PIL came up before a division bench of Justice Shantanu Kemkar and Justice M.S. Karnik.

While the court was hearing the petition, a few interveners pointed out to an observation made two months ago by senior high court judge Justice V.M. Kanade.

Justice Kanade had said he had contracted back pain from the jerks he endured during a road trip to Bandra from Borivali. On hearing this, Mr Sakhare made his remark about the judges’ “old cars.” Most high court judges use Toyota Corolla Altis, a car of Japanese-make.

On hearing Mr Sakhare’s statements, Justice Kemkar advised him that the BMC should not take the petition negatively and must instead keep in mind that the high court has taken the matter up suo motu. The bench further asked the BMC to submit a report on how much of the pothole-repair work has been completed and posted the matter for next hearing on Tuesday.