SARAVANAN Vs. DISTRICT COLLECTOR AND DISTRICT MAGISTRATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) MR. Jaju Babu, advocate for the petitioners, has raised an issue of general importance in the above Original Petition. It concerns about the restrictions that had been brought about by a public sector Corporation in the matter of parking of vehicles of third parties in its premises. The restriction is brought about by introducing parking fee at notified rates. The submission is that such conduct is illegal and interferes with the rights of citizens.

(2.) THE first respondent-Kerala Tourism Development corporation (KTDC) -owns a shopping complex in the Marine Drive of Cochin . THE principal occupant of the building is the State Bank of India and it is stated that there are 34 shops functioning in the ground floor of the building. THE building and the surrounding area owned by the Corporation, measures about one acre and twenty cents. It is also one of the most busy areas in the city. On three sides of the building there is sufficient space for parking about 50 vehicles at a time.

(3.) THE argument of the petitioners is that it is a statutory duty of the respondent-corporation to provide for parking facility in the premises. This had been provided and this facility had been continuously used by the general public, including the shop owners. It is submitted that a change in the system had been brought about with ulterior intention and the 6th respondent had been inducted surreptitiously and as a matter of fact the shop owners and the customers were being harassed. He referred to R. 20 of the Kerala building Rules which required that parking area as prescribed has to be mandatorily provided at the time of construction. This should be there even after the building is commissioned. He had also referred to a decision reported in Kalpaka Amma v. Muthurama Iyer (1994 (2) KLT 424 ). It had also been pointed out that if the Corporation was insistent in its proposal, at least a portion of the space in the immediate vicinity of the shops may be left as a free zone. An examination of R. 20 of the Kerala Building Rules shows that even though there is specific provision for parking space to be mandatorily made available at the time of construction, there is nothing more in the rule which prohibits a fee being charged in respect of the space that has been used.