TMI Blog1980 (7) TMI 266X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... blinkered rules of `standing' of British Indian vintage. If the centre of gravity of justice is to shift, as the Preamble to the Constitution mandates, from the traditional individualism of locus standi to the community orientation of public interest litigation, these issues must be considered. In that sense, the case before us between the Ratlam Municipality and the citizens of a ward, is a path-finder in the field of people's involvement in the justicing process, sans which as Prof. Sikes points out,(1) the system may `crumble under the burden of its own insensitivity'. The key question we have to answer is whether by affirmative action a court can compel a statutory body to carry out its duty to the community by constructing sanitation facilities at great cost and on a time-bound basis. At issue is the coming of age of that branch of public law bearing on community actions and the court's power to force public bodies under public duties to implement specific plans in response to public grievances. The circumstances of the case are typical and overflow the particular municipality and the solutions to the key questions emerging from the matrix of facts are capa ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... and was directly guilty of breach of duty and public nuisance and active neglect. The Sub Divisional Magistrate, Ratlam, was moved to take action under s. 133 Cr.P.C., to abate the nuisance by ordering the municipality to construct drain pipes with flow of water to wash the filth and stop the stench. The Magistrate found the facts proved, made the direction sought and scared by the prospect of prosecution under s. 188 I.P.C., for violation of the order under s. 133 Cr.P.C., the municipality rushed from court to court till, at last, years after, it reached this Court as the last refuge of lost causes. Had the municipal council and its executive officers spent half this litigative zeal on cleaning up the street and constructing the drains by rousing the people's sramdan resources and laying out the city's limited financial resources, the people's needs might have been largely met long ago. But litigation with other's funds is an intoxicant, while public service for common benefit is an inspiration; and, in a competition between the two, the former overpowers the latter. Not where a militant people's will takes over people's welfare institutions, energises the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ms where no facility of lavatories is supplied by the municipality. Many such people live in these slums who relieve their lateral dirt on the bank of drain or on the adjacent land. This way an open latrine is created by these people. This creates heavy dirt and mosquitoes. The drains constructed in other part of this Mohalla are also not proper it does not flow the water properly and it creates the water obnoxious. The Malaria Department of the State of M.P. also pays no attention in this direction. The non-applicants have not managed the drains, Nallahs and Naliyan properly and due to incomplete construction the non-applicants have left no outlet for the rainy water. Owing to above reasons the water is accumulated on the main road, it passes through living houses, sometimes snakes and scorpions come out and this obstruct the people to pass through this road. This also causes financial loss to the people of this area. The road constructed by Nagarpalika is on a high level and due to this, this year more water entered the houses of this locality and it caused this year more harm and loss to the houses also. This way all works done by the non-applicants i.e. construction of drain, c ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... g in the court. XX XX XX The applicants got examined the following witnesses in their evidence and after producing following documents they closed their evidence. XX XX XX No evidence has been produced by the non- applicants in spite of giving them so many opportunities. Both the parties heard and I have also inspected the site. XX XX XX The non-applicant (Municipal Council) has sought six times to produce evidence but all in vain. Likewise non-applicant (Town Improvement Trust) has also produced no evidence. The Nallah comes into picture after the construction of road and bridge. It has shown that Nallah is property of Nagarpalika according to Ex.p. 10. Many applications were submitted to remove the nuisance but without result. According to Sec. 32 to 43 of the Town Improvement Trust Act, it is shown, that it has only the provisions to make plans. Many a time people tried to attract the attention of Municipal Council and the Town Improvement Trust but the non- applicants always tried to throw the responsibility on one another shoulder. XX XX XX It is submitted by non-applicant (Municipality) that the said Nallah belongs to whom, it is still dis ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he Magistrate held in the end: Thus after perusing the evidence I come to this conclusion and after perusing the applications submitted by the persons residing on the New Road area from time to time to draw the attention of the non- applicants to remove the nuisance, the non-applicants have taken no steps whatsoever to remove all these public nuisances. He issued the following order which was wrongly found unjustified by the Sessions Court, but rightly upheld by the High Court: Therefore, for the health and convenience of the people residing in that particular area of all the nuisance must be removed and for that the following order is hereby passed: (1) The Town Improvement Trust with the help of Municipal Council must prepare a permanent plan to make the proper flow in the said Nallah which is flowing in between Shastri Colony and New Road. Both the non- applicants must prepare the plan within six months and they must take proper action to give it a concrete form. (2) According to para 13 a few places are described which are either having the same drains and the other area is having no drain and due to this the water stinks there; so the Municipal Council and the T ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... blic place or from any way, river or channel which is or may be lawfully used by the public; XX XX XX such Magistrate may make a conditional order requiring the person causing such obstruction or nuisance, or carrying on such trade or occupation, or keeping any such goods or merchandise, or owning, possessing or controlling such building, tent, structure, substance, tank, well or excavation or owning or possessing such animal or tree, within a time to be fixed in the order- (i) to remove such obstruction or nuisance; or XX XX XX (iii) to prevent or stop the construction of such building, or to alter the disposal of such substance; or if he objects so to do, to appear before himself or some other Executive Magistrate subordinate to him at a time and place to be fixed by the order, and show cause, in the manner hereinafter provided. why the order should not be made absolute. So the guns of s. 133 go into action wherever there is public nuisance. The public power of the Magistrate under the Code is a public duty to the members of the public who are victims of the nuisance, and so he shall exercise it when the jurisdictional facts are present as here. All power is a trust- ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... hers regardless of the cash in their coffers, even as human rights under Part III of the Constitution have to be respected by the State regardless of budgetary provision. Likewise, s. 123 of the Act has no saving clause when the municipal council is penniless. Otherwise, a profligate statutory body or pachydermic governmental agency may legally defy duties under the law by urging in self-defence a self-created bankruptcy or perverted expenditure budget. That cannot be. Section 133 Cr.P.C. is categoric, although reads discretionary. Judicial discretion when facts for its exercise are present, has a mandatory import. Therefore, when the sub-Divisional Magistrate, Ratlam, has, before him, information and evidence, which disclose the existence of a public nuisance and, on the materials placed, he considers that such unlawful obstruction or nuisance should be removed from any public place which may be lawfully used by the public, he shall act. Thus, his judicial power shall, passing through the procedural barrel, fire upon the obstruction or nuisance, triggered by the jurisdictional facts. The Magistrate's responsibility under s. 133 Cr.P.C. is to order removal of such nuisance w ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... oth forms of procedural justice. Public nuisance, because of pollutants being discharged by big factories to the detriment of the poorer sections, is a challenge to the social justice component of the rule of law. Likewise, the grievous failure of local authorities to provide the basic amenity of public conveniences drives the miserable slum-dwellers to ease in the streets, on the sly for a time, and openly thereafter, because under Nature's pressure, bashfulness becomes a luxury and dignity a difficult art. A responsible municipal council constituted for the precise purpose of preserving public health and providing better finances cannot run away from its principal duty by pleading financial inability. Decency and dignity are non-negotiable facets of human rights and are a first charge on local self-governing bodies. Similarly, providing drainage systems- not pompous and attractive, but in working condition and sufficient to meet the needs of the people- cannot be evaded if the municipality is to justify its existence. A bare study of the statutory provisions makes this position clear. In this view, the Magistrate's approach appears to be impeccable although in plac ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... pears, was reasonable. So far as direction No. 1 is concerned, the learned Magistrate only expected the Municipal Council and the Town Improvement Trust to evolve a plan and to start planning about it within six months: the learned Magistrate has rightly not fixed the time limit within which that plan will be completed. Nothing more reasonable could be said about direction No. 1. A strange plea was put forward by the Municipal Council before the High Court which was justly repelled, viz., that the owners of houses had gone to that locality on their own choice with eyes open and, therefore, could not complain if human excreta was flowing, dirt was stinking, mosquitoes were multiplying and health was held hostage. A public body constituted for the principal statutory duty of ensuring sanitation and health cannot outrage the court by such an ugly plea. Luckily, no such contention was advanced before us. The request for further time for implementation of the Magistrate's order was turned down by the High Court since no specific time-limit was accepted by the municipality for fulfillment of the directions. A doleful statement about the financial difficulties of the municipali ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t was why we allowed the municipality and the respondents to produce before us schemes prepared by expert engineers so that we may modify the directions issued by the Magistrate suitably. Scheme 'A' is stated to cost an estimated amount of ₹ 1.016 crores. The State Government has revised this proposal and brought down the cost. In our view, what is important is to see that the worst aspects of the insanitary conditions are eliminated, not that a showy scheme beyond the means of the municipality must be undertaken and half done. From that angle we approve scheme 'C' which costs only around ₹ 6 lakhs. We fix a time limit of one year for completing execution of the work according to that scheme. We further direct that the work shall be begun within two months from to-day and the Magistrate shall inspect the progress of the work every three months broadly to be satisfied that the order is being implemented bona fide. Breaches will be visited with the penalty of s. 188 I.P.C. We make the further supplementary directions which we specifically enjoin upon the municipal authority and the State Government to carry out. 1. We direct the Ratlam Municipal Coun ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... alth. It is not our intention that the ward which has woken up to its rights alone need be afforded these elementary facilities. We expect all the wards to be benefited without litigation. The pressure of the judicial process, expensive and dilatory, is neither necessary nor desirable if responsible bodies are responsive to duties. Cappelletti holds good for India when he observes :(1) Our judicial system has been aptly described as follows: Admirable though it may be, (it) is at once slow and costly. It is a finished product of great beauty, but entails an immense sacrifice of time, money and talent. This beautiful system is frequently a luxury; it tends to give a high quality of justice only when, for one reason or another, parties can surmount the substantial barriers which it erects to most people and to many types of claims. Why drive common people to public interest action ? Where Directive Principles have found statutory expression in Do's and Dont's the court will not sit idly by and allow municipal government to become a statutory mockery. The law will relentlessly be enforced and the plea of poor finance will be poor alibi when people in misery cry fo ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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