Delhi High Court Ruling Awaited on Parking Space

Throughout the world, since time immemorial, wars have been fought between clans, princely states or tribes to own land. Even today, these battles continue to be fought but mostly in courts. Interestingly, a High Court ruling is awaited on parking space in March 2010.

Delhi High Court to Decide on Allocation of land

The allocation of land in Delhi for parking purposes has become a matter of grave concern. The Delhi government has decided to purchase new buses to replace the phased out Bluelines. About 6,600 buses and another 4,500 buses are expected to comprise the new cluster scheme proposed by the Delhi government.

The Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) filed an affidavit in 2007 before the Supreme Court, stating the lack of parking facilities for the newly acquired fleet. It stated that 105 acres for parking and 21 bus depots are required. If the problem remains unaddressed, this can emerge as a nightmare for commuters in the city. On March 10, 2010, the DTC is expected to make its stand clear on the matter pending in the High Court.

High Court Decision on Administrative Issues

While the High Court decision is awaited, this issue remains one that concerns Delhi’s commuters. While laws are necessary to regulate commercial activities and to prevent any form of crime, the state's administration cannot delegate issues as disputes before high courts by citing helplessness to the judiciary.

The function of the Indian judiciary has a broader and specific purpose. To make decisions on behalf of the administration is not a purely judicial function. It involves decision making at the state’s executive level.

Judicial Activism in Indian Courts

Judicial activism is vital to engage the society more pro-actively with issues that are of greater significance such as fighting human rights violations, encounter killings, child marriage and so on. A question arises, “Should a government body’s lack of clarity about a proposed scheme become a case before a court of law?”

The High Courts in India have around three million cases that are pending. This huge number of cases need to be disposed within a just and fair period of time. Administrative decisions such as these should not burden the country’s apex court.

The laws in India are well-defined but at times, gray areas emerge. Nearly every day, issues of administrative importance are escalated to various high courts in the country. The judicial process takes time and in the period that ensues, the citizens continue to suffer.