Key facts
- SC ruled citizens have a right to walk on footpaths
- Ruling driven by a surge in pedestrian deaths across India
- Footpaths widely encroached by vendors, vehicles, and debris
- Order expected to compel municipalities to restore pedestrian infrastructure
The Supreme Court of India has ruled that citizens have the right to walk on footpaths, a landmark order rooted in a grim reality: India's pedestrian death toll has been surging at an alarming pace, making the country one of the most dangerous in the world for people on foot. The court's intervention comes as data shows that pedestrians account for a disproportionately large share of road accident fatalities in India, with crumbling, encroached, and absent footpaths pushing millions onto live traffic every day.
Across Indian cities, footpaths have long been colonised by vendors, parked vehicles, construction debris, and illegal structures, leaving pedestrians — particularly the elderly, the disabled, and daily wage workers — with no safe passage. The Supreme Court's order signals that the failure to provide functional footpaths is not merely a civic lapse but a violation of a constitutional right, likely grounded in the right to life under Article 21.
The ruling is expected to place significant pressure on municipal corporations and state governments to audit, clear, and rebuild pedestrian infrastructure. Urban planners and road-safety advocates have long argued that India's infrastructure spending overwhelmingly favours vehicles over people, and that footpath neglect is a policy choice with lethal consequences.
The judgment is likely to trigger a fresh round of public interest litigation at high courts across states, and could set a legal precedent compelling local bodies to act on long-pending pedestrian safety plans. For the millions of Indians who walk to work, school, or markets every day, the ruling offers a rare moment of judicial recognition that their safety on the street is a right, not a privilege.