Kerala High Court dismisses PIL alleging overcrowding in KSRTC buses due to free travel for women

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) which alleged that the Kerala government's Priyadarshini Scheme, which provides free bus travel to all women and transgender persons in ordinary KSRTC buses, had led to overcrowding in such buses. [Akhila PR & Anr v. State of Kerala]

A Division Bench of Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Syam Kumar VM said that the PIL was merely speculative and seemed to be intended to derail the government's scheme.

"This is a speculative litigation intended to derail the Priyadarshini Bus Scheme introduced by the Government of Kerala to provide free travel facilities to women. It is alleged that, owing to overcrowding, the vehicles operated under the scheme have met with accidents. This is not corroborated by any document," the Court said.

The Court also noted that the petitioners had not submitted any material to substantiate their claim that overcrowding due to the scheme was leading to bus accidents.

"In the absence of any corroborative material to substantiate the allegation that the bus accident occurred on account of overcrowding, we do not find any reason to entertain this Public Interest Litigation (PIL). This writ petition is accordingly dismissed. However, the Government must ensure that the safety of passengers travelling in the buses is adequately safeguarded," the Court's judgment reads.

The petitioners were represented by Senior Advocate KP Satheesan and Advocate Sabu Pullan.

Standing Counsel BS Swathi Kumar represented KSRTC and Senior Government Pleader OA Nuriya appeared for the State.

Another petition challenging the Priyadarshini Scheme on the ground that it was discriminatory was dismissed by the same Division Bench in June this year.

[Read Order]