Srinagar, Feb 19: The High Court of J&K and Ladakh has issued notice to the government on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking to implement safety measures and reservation of seats for women in public transport as mandated under law.
A Division Bench of Chief Justice Arun Palli and Justice Rajnesh Oswal sought the government’s response to the PIL by March 4 after the Government Advocate requested for the same to seek instructions.
The PIL by a woman lawyer underscores that despite in place a Government Circular dated January 7, 2025, mandating reservation of seats 1-12 in large buses and 1-9 in minibuses for women, the directions remain unimplemented on the ground.
The petitioner invokes Articles 15(3), 21, and 38(1) of the constitution, contending that the failure to enforce the circular undermines women’s safety and dignity.
According to the PIL, the information obtained by the petitioner under the RTI Act from the Transport Commissioner and the Regional Transport Office (RTO) Kashmir revealed no record of inspections or penal action against violators of the circular.
The PIL said that no functional public helpline has been established to address complaints, and though RTO Flying Squads were reportedly constituted, no material evidence of enforcement at the ground level was furnished.
The responses from the Deputy Commissioner’s office and the Traffic Police purportedly shifted responsibility to the Transport Department indicating a lack of interdepartmental coordination, the PIL said.
The petitioner asserts that data collected from 298 women at the Local Educational Institutions revealed that 85.6 percent of them experienced harassment or discomfort during their travel in public transport.
And the majority of them was even unaware of any existing complaint mechanism, she said.
Moreover, the petitioner cited examples from states such as Delhi, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, where initiatives like ‘Pink Tickets’, ‘Tejaswini Buses’ and ‘Shakti Schemes’ have reportedly been implemented without requiring amendments to the Motor Vehicles Act.
