HC issues notice to MSRTC over shelter for protesters at Nagpur winter session

The High Court has issued a notice to the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) and asked it to file its reply in the matter of protesters who come to Nagpur with their demands during the state legislature's winter session.

The case began when the High Court took suo motu cognisance of the plight of protesters who had arrived for the session. The court registered it as a public interest litigation and appointed senior advocate Akshay Naik as amicus curiae.

At the hearing on Thursday, the amicus curiae sought the court's permission to make MSRTC a respondent in the case. Justices Anil Kilor and Rajnish Vyas granted the request after hearing the matter. MSRTC was sent a notice, and the new respondent was directed to file its reply.

The court had earlier directed the state government to immediately provide emergency and temporary shelters to protesters spending nights in the open in the bitter cold.

In its order, the court had said that peaceful protest is a fundamental right of citizens under Article 19 of the Constitution. The right to life guaranteed under Article 21 includes shelter. Protecting people in severe cold is therefore the government's legal and moral duty.

The court was also told during the hearing that the winter session is held in Nagpur under a 1960 agreement and carries political and historical significance. During the session, large groups of 100 to 1,000 people from villages and remote areas of Vidarbha come to Nagpur to put their problems before the government.

The government had designated places for these people to gather and protest peacefully, but no temporary arrangement had been made for them to stay overnight. This gap came before the court.

To examine the situation, the High Court had also formed a three-member committee headed by advocate Abhishek Bhuibhar. The committee was asked to inspect the protest sites between 4 pm and 7 pm. It was also to check whether the officials concerned were correctly directing people living on the streets to shelter homes.