MUMBAI AUTO RICKSHAWMENS UNION Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Matters not on Board. Taken on Board at the request of the learned counsel appearing for the parties on the ground that if the matters are not heard today, the same may become infructuous. Since regular Bench is not available today, the Court has accepted the request made by the learned counsel appearing for the petitioners in this behalf. So far as other cognate petition i.e. Writ Petition No. 1824 of 2012 is concerned, since no motion is made and the Advocate for the petitioners therein is also not present today, the same has been delinked from these two petitions.

(2.) The main challenge in these petitions is to the notification dated 17 th February, 2012, issued by the Home Department, State of Maharashtra, by which the date of commencement of fitment of electronic digital fare meter to the auto rickshaws in the area of Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (excluding the rural regions in Thane District) has been fixed as 1 st April, 2012. The grievance of the petitioners in each of these petitions is that the State Government has introduced a policy by which Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (hereinafter referred to as the Act ) is amended and the policy of placing electronic digital fare meters is ordered to be installed in the auto rickshaws plying in the city of Mumbai as well as in the entire State of Maharashtra.

(3.) The notification issued by the State Government is also challenged on the ground that in the year 2007, a decision was taken to introduce the electronic meters but since there was grievance raised by the Unions representing auto rickshaw drivers, the Government in its wisdom thought it fit to constitute a Committee. The Committee consists of 11 members which included the concerned Minister, Secretary of the Department as well as the representatives of the Union and Mumbai Grahak Panchayat, who claims to have largest membership of consumers in the country.