Finding "substance" in the plea seeking probe into the scheme providing electric rickshaws to persons with special needs, the Bombay High Court last week sought state government's response on the issue. A bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Sandesh D Patil on October 3 passed an order on plea filed by nearly 120 persons with special needs from various areas in Maharashtra seeking from court the direction to state departments of social justice, disability welfare and Maharashtra State Handicapped Finance and Development Corporation to replace defective electric vehicles supplied to them under the scheme with "safe and functional alternatives." The plea also sought independent inquiry into the approval process and alleged "pricing anomaly between the government procurement costs and the market price" of e-rickshaws. The plea argued through advocates Asim Sarode and Shriya Awale and claimed that continued use of such "faulty vehicles" violated the fundamental rights of the petitioners who are beneficiaries of the scheme. Sarode submitted that the scheme was introduced by state Social Justice department through June 10, 2019 Government Resolution (GR) titled “Regarding provision of Green Energy-Powered Environment-friendly Mobile Shop (Mobile Shop on E-Vehicle) for Disabled Persons to become Self-Reliant’ and nearly 800 vehicles were distributed at the cost of over Rs. 20 crore. The petitioners claimed that the vehicles allotted to them were with several technical defaults in the e-vehicles and such as "low quality and non-functional vehicles ought to be replaced with higher quality, roadworthy alternatives. The HC noted the petitioners addressed several letters to the authorities raising their grievances. They include poor quality battery charging, resulting in difficulties faced by e-rickshaw such as the vehicle displaying incorrect information after being started and not being able to climb standard incline and has low carrying capacity. Moreover, the plea claimed the seating space in the e-rickshaw is insufficient for passengers and while driving the vehicle suddenly vibrates and pulls to one side, increasing the risk of accidents for both the differently-abled drivers and passengers. Among the other difficulties, the petitioners said proper service is not available locally as the manufacturer of the said vehicles is Haryana based company and technicians take upto two months to respond after registering complaints and spare parts are not readily available. The plea further alleged that substandard materials have been used in manufacturing, resulting in early rusting and majority of the distributed e-rickshaws are presently nonfunctional. Due to the narrow width of the e-rickshaw, the petitioners said there is a high risk of overturning, the brakes do not function properly and after a full battery charge, the e-rickshaw runs for less than 10 kilometers. The petitioners therefore claimed the scheme lacked "proper monitoring, redressal mechanism and accountability," which is "clearly affecting the dignity, safety and livelihood of the differently-abled." The court noted that petitioners have filed the plea "having exhausted all possible remedies including filing complaints, legal notices and filing RTI applications." "We find substance in what has been stated by the counsel for the petitioners," the HC said while issuing notice to respondents seeking their response during the next hearing on October 15. The court also asked a senior responsible officer from the concerned departments, who is well versed with the facts of the case, to remain present with instructions on the next date.
