The petitioner submitted that while he had raised the issue before the BMC and its standing committee it was not addressed. (File) THE BOMBAY High Court on Monday dismissed PIL by BJP corporator and party leader in Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Prabhakar Shinde which cited the poor conditions of roads in the city and sought a probe into an alleged ‘road construction’ scam’ since 2016.
The court asked Shinde to raise his grievances before the appropriate forum in BMC and said it was not inclined to entertain his plea. A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Makarand S Karnik was hearing Shinde’s plea, argued through advocate Abhijeet Desai, which sought direction to identify contractors appointed for construction and repair of roads within the jurisdiction of the BMC, whose bid was lower than 15 per cent of the estimated cost of tender.
“Citizens are not aggrieved and they do not raise a grievance that roads are not maintained? You are a corporator. You can raise it in the corporation. Why are you coming here? Merely stating there are bad roads and potholes is not enough…This is not a place for political battles. Don’t drag us there,” the bench orally remarked.
The petitioner submitted that while he had raised the issue before the BMC and its standing committee it was not addressed.
CJ Datta, who was a judge at Calcutta HC, said, “…Your points might not have been accepted by majority. By PIL, you’ve approached us. Is it appropriate? I also come from a metro city. Compared to where I come from and where I am residing now, this is much better. What do you mean by bad roads?…so many construction activities are going on in Mumbai…” The court then dismissed the plea.
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