Supreme Court Recognises Right to Walk on Footpaths as a Fundamental Right

The Supreme Court of India has recognised the right to walk on demarcated footpaths as a fundamental right, ruling that this right overrides the privilege of a motor vehicle. The bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Atul S Chandurkar also urged the government to bring in a law to give this right practical effect, so that officials and departments can be held accountable when pedestrian rights are violated.

The case arose from the death of a five-year-old boy who was struck by a tanker while walking to school with his father. The court noted the tragedy of what turned out to be a father's last walk with his son. Pedestrians are among the most vulnerable road users in India, and the little space available to them on footpaths is frequently encroached upon by parked two-wheelers or shops.

The judgment came against a backdrop of sharply rising pedestrian deaths. Over the decade from 2015 to 2024, while total road fatalities rose by about 21 per cent, pedestrian deaths surged by roughly 163 per cent — from around 13,894 in 2015 to 36,526 in 2024. The share of pedestrians in total road deaths more than doubled, from about 9.5 per cent to over 20 per cent, making pedestrians the second-largest group of road-death victims after two-wheeler riders.

The court observed that although walking predates wheeled transport by thousands of years, modern road infrastructure is built almost entirely for motorised vehicles. It said the Motor Vehicles Act has in many ways undermined pedestrian rights, and called the lack of safe, usable footpaths a civilisational problem. It traced the dominance of motor transport partly to an early elitism, when vehicles were a privilege of the rich.

For exams, note that fundamental rights in India flow mainly from Article 21 (right to life and personal liberty), which courts have repeatedly expanded to include rights such as a clean environment and human dignity — the right to safe footpaths is the latest such expansion. Remember the judges' names, the link to the Motor Vehicles Act, and the court's call for a dedicated law.