People have right to run: SC
New Delhi, Nov 19, 2016, PTI:
“People have a fundamental right to run,” the Supreme Court observed on Friday as it refused to postpone the Delhi Half Marathon scheduled for November 20 because of the air pollution that is affecting the national capital.
A bench comprising Chief Justice T S Thakur and Justice A R Dave said the court cannot ask people not to run or do the work they want to.
“People have a fundamental right to run. We cannot stop them. We cannot say anything in this (regard),” the bench said after a lawyer sought the court’s direction to postpone the half marathon.
The counsel said that air pollution in Delhi is an issue with an impact on people’s health, especially that of children and senior citizens, and that the court should postpone it till the situation improves. They added that children do not know how pollution can affect their health.
“We are not asking for a stay or for the cancellation of the marathon. This is only a request to postpone it till the air quality in Delhi gets better,” the counsel said.
To this, the CJI responded saying, “ It cannot be done like this. If we stop people from running today, you will ask us to stop people from walking in parks tomorrow.”
The counsel told the bench that the apex court had passed various directions with regard to the air pollution in Delhi, to which the court replied that the directions were within the scope of the law. “We cannot go beyond the law,” it said.
The apex court had earlier pulled up the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) for not having an action plan ready to deal with the emergency smog situation in Delhi, and asked “Do you want to wait till people start dying?”
It had slammed the apex pollution monitoring body for the “sluggish” response on the issue and had passed a slew of directions, including a meeting of all stakeholders with the CPCB Chairman, to be held on November 19 to deal with the issue.
A bench comprising Chief Justice T S Thakur and Justice A R Dave said the court cannot ask people not to run or do the work they want to.
“People have a fundamental right to run. We cannot stop them. We cannot say anything in this (regard),” the bench said after a lawyer sought the court’s direction to postpone the half marathon.
The counsel said that air pollution in Delhi is an issue with an impact on people’s health, especially that of children and senior citizens, and that the court should postpone it till the situation improves. They added that children do not know how pollution can affect their health.
“We are not asking for a stay or for the cancellation of the marathon. This is only a request to postpone it till the air quality in Delhi gets better,” the counsel said.
To this, the CJI responded saying, “ It cannot be done like this. If we stop people from running today, you will ask us to stop people from walking in parks tomorrow.”
The counsel told the bench that the apex court had passed various directions with regard to the air pollution in Delhi, to which the court replied that the directions were within the scope of the law. “We cannot go beyond the law,” it said.
The apex court had earlier pulled up the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) for not having an action plan ready to deal with the emergency smog situation in Delhi, and asked “Do you want to wait till people start dying?”
It had slammed the apex pollution monitoring body for the “sluggish” response on the issue and had passed a slew of directions, including a meeting of all stakeholders with the CPCB Chairman, to be held on November 19 to deal with the issue.
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