The Supreme Court has declared that every citizen has a fundamental right to walk on a demarcated footpath, ruling that this right takes precedence over the movement of motorized vehicles.
A bench of justices PS Narasimha and Atul S Chandurkar held that the existence of a road casts a corresponding legal duty on public authorities to provide and maintain footpaths for pedestrians.
The court declared that the right to walk is a fundamental right flowing from the guarantees of free movement, free expression, assembly, association, and the right to life under the Constitution.
Urban development authorities, municipal corporations, municipalities, and even panchayats are constitutionally obligated to create, maintain, and safeguard pedestrian infrastructure wherever roads exist.
Citizens who suffer injury or loss due to the absence, encroachment, or poor maintenance of footpaths may now have an independent public law remedy against civic authorities.
