Jharkhand High Court Directs Hazaribagh Authorities To Operationalise Traffic Signals At 20 Major Intersections Within 4 Months

A Division Bench of Chief Justice M.S. Sonak and Justice Rajesh Shankar was hearing a public interest writ petition highlighting the chaotic traffic situation in Hazaribagh and seeking time-bound measures for traffic regulation and civic management.

The petitioner had raised several issues, including the absence of an effective traffic-light monitoring system, inadequate CCTV and surveillance, lack of parking facilities, encroachments on public footpaths and inadequate traffic regulation. The petition also referred to fatal collisions at Barkagaon More and Kargil Chowk and injuries caused to pedestrians and motorists due to unmanaged traffic.

The PIL had been pending since 2021, during which Coordinate Benches of the High Court had passed several orders directing the authorities to take steps to address the traffic situation. In July 2024, the Court appointed Mr. Prashant Pallav, then an Advocate practising before the High Court, as an Advocate Commissioner to inspect Hazaribagh and submit a comprehensive report. The Advocate Commissioner's report, the Court noted, largely confirmed the chaotic traffic conditions in the city. It recorded the absence of traffic personnel at several important intersections, lack of automatic traffic signals, largely non-functional CCTV cameras, haphazard parking, inadequate enforcement of traffic rules relating to helmets and seatbelts, and a shortage of police and traffic personnel.

Although the State and Municipal authorities subsequently filed affidavits assuring the Court that remedial measures would be undertaken, the Court noted that the measures addressed only some of the issues highlighted in the petition. The authorities had also attempted to attribute responsibility for different aspects of the traffic problem to each other, prompting the Court to direct greater coordination between the State Administration and Municipal authorities.

The Court observed that while it could not conclude that the authorities had taken no remedial steps, “much more needs to be done to secure implementation and monitoring.”

The Bench further emphasised that the right to a clean, dignified and reasonably safe urban life forms part of the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution. It also noted that Article 19(1)(d) protects the freedom of movement of citizens and that the authorities are required to comply with the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 and the applicable municipal legislation.

The Court also directed the authorities to take into account the statutory framework governing street vendors and observed that the objective should be to enable street vending to coexist harmoniously with motorable carriageways and walkable footpaths, rather than seeking their complete exclusion.

Among the principal directions issued by the Court, the Municipal Commissioner, Hazaribagh Municipal Corporation was directed to ensure completion and operational trial of the Automated Traffic Light Management System under the agreement dated 19.08.2026 with M/s Keyhole Design Private Limited within four months. The trial is to cover at least 20 major intersections identified by the Court, including District Court Chowk, Korrah Chowk, Matwari Chowk, Barkagaon More, DVC Chowk, Jhanda Chowk, Old Bus Stand Chowk, New Bus Stand Chowk and Panch Mandir Chowk.

The Court further directed constitution of a three-member monitoring and maintenance team, comprising an officer of the Corporation not below the rank of Assistant Engineer, a Traffic Police Officer not below the rank of Inspector and a representative of the contractor. The team has been directed to maintain a daily downtime log, with malfunctioning signals to be restored within specified timelines.

The authorities were also directed to submit an inventory of CCTV cameras installed since 2017, file peak-hour deployment charts identifying the officer accountable at each of the 20 intersections, and complete training of traffic personnel in coordination with the District Legal Services Authority.

Further directions concerned regulation of heavy and commercial goods vehicles, parking spaces, vending and non-vending zones and removal of encroachments from footpaths, junctions, zebra crossings and carriageways.

The Court clarified that these directions were in addition to existing statutory obligations and that the authorities could not avoid compliance with statutory requirements relating to traffic safety and management.

The PIL was accordingly disposed of without any order as to costs.

Case Title: Achyut Swaroop Mishra v. State of Jharkhand and Ors.

Case Number: W.P. (PIL) No. 4534 of 2021

Appearance:

For the Petitioner: Party-in-Person

For the State: Mr. Vibhor Mayank, A.C. to A.G.

For Respondent No. 4: Mr. Ranjit Kumar, Advocate