Once again considering the authority’s efforts to curb traffic and pollution, the Gujarat High Court upheld the decision to ban the entry of private buses in Ahmedabad limits during the day.
The private bus operators challenged the single bench judgement restricting the entry of private buses in the city from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
A bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Aniruddha Mayee upheld the decision to restrict luxury buses to city limits during the day.
The HC also rejected a 2004 notification that allowed private buses to operate and park on specific routes.
The single bench judgement of the high court by Justice Vaibhav Nanavati held that there has been a surge in the number of vehicles in Ahmedabad for the last two decades, which has resulted in the rise of traffic and parking issues.
The HC upheld the Ahmedabad police notification and clarified that for the safety of citizens, the decision to ban private buses from the city limits in the daytime is ‘legal and appropriate’.
The public prosecutor, Utkarsh Sharma, strongly opposed the petition filed by the luxury bus operators challenging the verdict of a single judge and the public notification of the Ahmedabad city police commissioner.
He argued that the interests of the luxury bus business cannot be put above the lives and safety of innocent citizens. Therefore, the High Court should dismiss the appeal of the petitioners.
The Ahmedabad police commissioner issued a notification in Jan 2022 to restrict the entry of private buses under Section 33 (1) (b) and (c) of the Gujarat Police Act.