From High Court to Raddi Chowk: HC seeks reply from government in 3 weeks on flyover | FPJ
Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The High Court principal bench of Jabalpur on Friday issued a notice and sought a reply from the government within three weeks regarding the construction of a flyover from High Court Square to Raddi Chowki (Aadhartal to High Court Chowk).
The order was passed by a division bench comprising Chief Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Vivek Jain.
High Court advocate Munish Singh filed a PIL, highlighting severe traffic congestion on the Aadhartal road from the High Court area, which, he said, causes daily accidents, delays emergency patients from reaching hospitals and creates inconvenience for schoolchildren and advocates.
The petition stated that lawyers practicing regularly in the High Court, Civil Court, Collectorate and those commuting to the railway station waste precious time due to the persistent traffic jams and are often unable to reach their destination on time. Despite repeated written representations to the administration, the government has failed to respond, the petition stated.
Senior advocates Rameshwar Singh Thakur and Rajendra Prasad Gupta, appearing for the petitioner, argued that the government could resolve the issue by constructing a flyover and that the High Court has the authority to issue a writ of mandamus under Article 226 to compel action.
However, Additional Advocate General Bharat Singh Thakur questioned the maintainability of the petition, strongly opposed it and demanded its dismissal. He argued that since the PWD Minister hails from Jabalpur, citizens could approach him directly with their demands.
Rejecting these arguments, High Court stated that if citizens are hindered in exercising their fundamental rights, it can indeed issue writs against the government. The court instructed the government to respond within three weeks, clarifying when the proposed flyover would be completed.
