Supreme Court quashed the Cap on Rickshaws plying in Delhi

The Supreme Court of India on 3 April 2012, upheld the Delhi High Court ruling of quashing a cap on number of rickshaws plying in Delhi. The apex court’s  bench of Justices G S Singhvi and S J Mukhopadhaya in its ruling held that when there is no cap on number of motorised vehicles, equally there can be no cap on number of rickshaws plying in the city.

Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) had constricted the number of rickshaws plying in Delhi at 89000 and refused to give fresh licences. The MCD’s move deemed the remaining 4.91 lakh rickshaw pullers as potential violators of law resulting in fine ranging from 5 rupees to 50 rupees a day.

The Supreme Court called the MCD move an attempt to elbow out the poor and make room for the rich man's car. The court pointedly asked if the Government would impound the licence of a drunken driver who mows down people and put him behind bars instead of depriving a poor man of his legitimate livelihood.