Mumbai HC bans dumping seized vehicles publicly

Mumbai

The Bombay High Court has ordered strict action to prevent Mumbai’s already crowded streets from being used as storage for abandoned or seized vehicles. On May 8, Justices G S Kulkarni and Advait Sethna directed all police stations to fully implement traffic police rules for disposing of such vehicles, stressing that merely moving them to dumping yards is not enough.

The court emphasized that in a space-starved city like Mumbai, public roads and footpaths cannot be blocked by parked or dumped vehicles seized by police. This order followed a petition from Marathon Maxima Co-op Housing Society, which complained about obstructive vehicles parked near their gates by a nearby police station.

The traffic police confirmed they had sent instructions to all police stations to move abandoned or confiscated vehicles to dumping yards. However, the court urged the state government to identify proper dumping locations in every civic ward.

The judges stressed that if vehicles are no longer needed, continuous steps must be taken to dispose of them, and police stations must strictly follow these guidelines. The court warned that failure to comply will result in disciplinary action against responsible officers.

The case will be reviewed again on July 2, and the traffic department must report long-term plans to handle the issue. Additionally, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has hired a private company to help identify and scrap abandoned vehicles, aiming for a cleaner, less congested city.