HIRALAL SHAH Vs. COMMISSIONER OF POLICE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This petitioners, who are seven in number, carry on business as owners of handcarts. As amongst them they own about 371 handcarts, which are said to be garaged at different places either at Upper Chitpur Road or at Sovaram Bysak Street or at Gangadhar Babu Lane or at Govinda Dhar Lane, all in the town of Calcutta. The handcarts are piled under licenses issued under the Calcutta Municipal Act and at the time when the petitioners obtained this Rule the handcarts were being run under valid licenses.

(2.) On February 19, 1962, the respondent No.1, Commissioner of Police, Calcutta, issued a Notification, under Section 62(1)(b) read with Section 62(2) of the Calcutta Police Act 1866 and under Section 39(1)(b) read with Section 39(2) of the Calcutta Suburban Police Act, 1866, prohibiting, with effect from March 15, 1962, the plying of handcarts (and also of bullock and buffalo carts) between the hours 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. within the area bounded on the North by Vivekananda Road and Kalikrishna Street (the streets themselves being excluded), on the East - by Chittaranjan Avenue and Chowringhee Road, on the South - by that portion of Lower Circular Road between Chowringhee Road and St. George's Gate Road and Strand Road (hereinafter referred to as the prohibited area). A copy of the said Notification is hereinbelow set out:- "In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (b) of sub-section (1), read with sub-section (2) of Section 62 of the Calcutta Police Act, 1866 (Bengal Act IV of 1866) and clause (b) of sub-section (1) read with sub-section (2) of section 39 of the Calcutta Suburban Police Act 1866 (Bengal Act II of 1866) and with the previous sanction of the State Government the Commissioner of Police, Calcutta, makes the following amendments in the rules for the regulation of Traffic in the Streets, and public places of Calcutta and its suburbs, published with Calcutta Police Notification dated the 13th January, 1950, at pages 63-99 of Part I of the Calcutta Gazette of the 19th January, 1950, as subsequently amended (hereinafter referred to as the said rules):- Amendments 1. In part II of the said rules - after rule 4 insert the following rules namely: - 4A. Restrictions on Cart Traffic, - No, bullock, buffalo or handcart of any description shall proceed in the area or the roads or portions of roads specified below in the Table on all days between the hours of 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. with effect from 15th March, 1962. THE TABLE 1. Area above referred to The area bounded - On the North by Vivekananda Road and Kali Krishna Tagore Street (the streets themselves being excluded); on the East by Chittaranjan Avenue and Chowringhee Road; On the South by that portion of Lower Circular Road between Chowringhee Road and St. Georges' Gate Road; and on the West by St. Georges' Gate Road and Strand Road. II. Roads or portions of roads above referred to. 1. Tarak Paramanik Road (between Chittaranjan Avenue and Chorebagan Lane); 2. Muktaram Babu Street (Between Chittaranjan Avenue and Chorebagan Lane). 3.Mahatma Gandhi Road (between Chittaranjan Avenue and Nil Madhan Sen Lane). 4. Mechuabazar Street (between Chittaranjan Avenue and Krishna Behari Sen Street). 5. Colootolla Street (between Chittaranjan Avenue and Krishna Behari Sen Street). 6. Eden Hospital Road (between Chittaranjan Avenue and College Street). 7. Bowbazar Street (between Chittaranjan Avenue and College Street). 8. Ganesh Chandra Avenue (between Chittaranjan Avenue and Wellington Street). 9. Princep Street (between Chittaranjan Avenue and Chandni Chawk Street). 10. Madan Street and Mati Seal Street (between Chittaranjan Avenue and S.N. Banerjee Road). 11. Meredith Street (between Chittaranjan Avenue and Madan Street). 12. Chowringhee Square (between Chittaranjan Avenue and Madan Street). 13. Moti Seal Lane (between Chowringhee Road and Moti Seal Street). 14. S. N. Banerjee Road (between Chowringhee and Moti Seal Street). 15. Chowringhee Place (between Chowringhee and Bertram St.). 16. Lindsay Street (between Chowringhee Road and Bertram St.). 17. Kyd Street (between Chowringhee Road and Chowringhee Place). 18. Lower Circular Road (between Chowringhee Road and St. Georges' Gate Road). 19. Chowringhee Road. 20. Chittaranjan Avenue. 21. St. Georges' Gate Road and Strand Road. 2. In Rule 5, after item (e) and the entry relating thereto add the following items and entries namely: - '(f) Vivekananda road, (g) Kali Krishna Tagore Street, (h) Tarak Pramanik Road (i) Muktaram Babu Street, (j) Mahatma Gandhi Road, (k) Mechuabazar Street, (1) Colootolla Street, (m) Eden Hospital Road, (n) Bowbazar Street, (o) Ganesh Chandra Avenue, (p) Princep St. (q) Madan Street and Moti Seal street, (r) Meredith Street, (s) Chowringhee Sq. (t) Moti Seal Lane, (u) S.N. Banerjee Road, (v) Chowringhee Place, (v) Lindsay Street, (x) Kyd Street, (y) Strand Road, (z) Lower Circular Road, (za) St. Georges' Gate Road, (zb) Chittaranjan Avenue, (zc) Chowringhee Road'. The above mentioned restrictions will be in addition to the existing restrictions on Slow-moving vehicles on the roads of Calcutta and its suburbs. Sd. U. Mukherji, 19-2-62, Commissioner of Police, Calcutta."

(3.) The petitioner allege that their business has been adversely affected by the said Notification and unless they are allowed to ply their carts within the prohibited areas and between the prohibited hours, their business will become totally extinct. In elaboration they further allege that within the prohibited area are located several booking offices of transportation concerns offices and godowns of bidi-leaf and tobacco merchants, of dealers in spices, food grains, vegetables, fruits, sugar, ghee, mustard oil, paper, glass, stationery goods, aluminium goods, machine and machinery parts, rope, cement, hide, steel wires, iron goods, corrugated iron sheets, baskets and utensils, as also Katra type markets for wholesale dealers, for example, raja katra Market, Posta Market, as also godowns of important mercantile firms like Titagarh Paper Mills, Balmer Lawrie and Company and Martin Burn and Company and warehouses of the Port Commissioners and of Calcutta Jetties. They say that they carry goods to and from the aforementioned places. The godowns and warehouses abovementioned are kept open between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., within which hours all transportation business there have to be transacted. They further say that transportation of goods to and from the business centres of dealers and merchants abovementioned have to be made between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. The prohibition as to hours of plying of handcarts, they allege, has made it impossible for the petitioners to carry on business with any of the above centres of trade. They also allege that although Howrah and Sealdah Railway Stations are outside the prohibited area yet then goods have to be carried to and from the Railway stations through the prohibited area and that the prohibition has affected their business in the two railway stations as well. they further allege that their garages are situate within the prohibited area, and the prohibition has made it impossible for them to take their carts out of their garages during the prohibited hours, even for plying elsewhere. They say that their carts being immobilized during the all-important business hours, they are faced with total extinction of their business; so also are others who carry on similar business and the handcart pullers, numerous in number, are facing unemployment.