Dismissing a businessman’s plea seeking permission to drive his vehicle in the restricted zone around the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on Dalal Street in South Mumbai’s Fort area, the Bombay High Court last week said that a “healthy person can surely walk from the security barricades to his office near the BSE building, a distance of barely 300 metres.”
The court noted that the facility to “drop off/pick up and go” had earlier been granted to the petitioner’s late father, who was elderly and suffering from heart ailments.
He clarified that such permission can only be granted to people with serious and serious illnesses who cannot walk even 300 meters from the security barricades.
On January 13, a division bench headed by Justice Ravindra V Ghuge heard a plea from businessman Sanjay Pukhraj Bafna, 50, who has his office near the BSE building.
Bafna, through its advocates Mutahhar Khan and Yash Dhakad, claimed that the vehicle it uses to travel to its office is prohibited from entering, even though it exclusively owns a private parking space within the building complex. The petitioner said that in 2012 the court allowed his father to be dropped at the gates of Veena Chambers and the vehicle to leave immediately afterwards. Furthermore, after office hours, his father was allowed to be picked up from the office in the prohibited area.
The court was told that although his father died in 2023, the relevant police station told Bafna last year that his vehicle would be stopped near the security barricades unless he obtained a court order to take it within the restricted area. Aggrieved, the petitioner approached the HC.
The BSE cited a police communication and stated that the petitioner’s vehicle should be prohibited from entering the area.
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The court observed that the need for the petitioner’s father to be dropped off and picked up by vehicle from the restricted area “extinguished” after his death. The court noted that even after 2023, “security was under the impression that the deceased was traveling in the said vehicle.”
Furthermore, the HC refused to grant the petitioner the freedom to “drop it off or pick it up and go” as he did not allege any health reason.
“The petitioner is present in the courtroom and was standing before the court during the hearing, which lasted for almost 30 minutes. He appears to be healthy and had no difficulty in standing before the court. Therefore, at this stage, we are not considering the petitioner’s application,” the court noted.
He also directed the senior police inspector of MRA Marg police station to “conduct routine security check and should not be complacent.”
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Citing heightened security concerns, the HC refused to entertain the petition and noted, “Needless to say, this order would not apply to BSE officials or high dignitaries visiting BSE for official purposes.”
