Supreme Court: Plan smooth NCR movement

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, June 4

As lakhs of commuters face problems in crossing the Delhi borders adjoining Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram, Sonepat and Faridabad, the Supreme Court on Thursday asked the governments of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana to consider having a common pass system for the NCR for smooth inter-state movement.

A Bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan asked them to hold a meeting with the Centre’s help to explore the possibility of “one policy, one portal” for movement within the Delhi-NCR.

It asked them to take a decision in a week after the Centre submitted that it was for the states concerned to decide on inter-state movement.

The direction came on a petition by Gurugram resident Rohit Bhalla, highlighting the plight of commuters. He said the NCR should be considered as a single region and Delhi’s borders should be opened.

Terming the Uttar Pradesh and Haryana decisions to restrict movement for permissible activities in the NCR through “blanket orders of sealing borders without reasonable exceptions” as illegal, he said it violated citizens’ rights.

The top court asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to take instructions as to how to resolve the difficulties faced by commuters in the NCR due to restrictions on inter-state movement.

The Bench said there was a recommendation for a common pass for the entire NCR region. The restrictions violated the MHA’s May 1 guidelines, which allowed traffic movement for permissible activities, Bhalla claimed.