Railway authorities have refused the option for central government-approved agencies to conduct audits on railway platforms to check whether these fulfil high court conditions to be classified as disa
Railway authorities have refused the option for central government-approved agencies to conduct audits on railway platforms to check whether these fulfil high court conditions to be classified as disabled-friendly stations. Further, railway authorities have also not suggested any agency’s name on their own to conduct the audit. Thus, on Tuesday, the Bombay high court warned the general managers of both Central Railway and Western Railway that if the court finds that its orders were not followed, then a contempt notice would be issued to them.
A division bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice A.A. Sayed was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by city-based NGO India Centre for Human Rights and Law. Contending that even though legal provisions mandate that the authorities provide special facilities for the disabled at stations, the railway authorities have not taken the necessary steps.
On Tuesday, the petitioner’s lawyer, Gayatri Singh, read out the names of 15 agencies that the Centre had approved to check the accessibility that disabled people have to public places.
The railways’ lawyer said: “We don’t want that these agencies audit our stations. If the petitioner wants, they can inspect the stations.” The court then asked the railways to forward the names of other agencies that could inspect the stations, but the railways refused to do the same.
Irked by this, the HC said: “If we find any non-compliance on the part of the railways, we will initiate contempt action against the general managers of Central and Western Railways.” The court also directed the railways to decide, within two weeks, which agency would audit the stations.
