Right of way: On the right to walk on demarcated footpaths

2026-06-22 · 3 min

UPSC CSE Context Why in News: Supreme Court reaffirmed right to walk on footpaths as fundamental right under Article 21. Syllabus Connection: Polity: Fundamental Rights, Judicial Activism; Governance: Urban Infrastructure, Pedestrian Safety. Exam Relevance: Relevant for questions on right to life, urban governance, street vending, and public policy implementation. Core Issue Right to walk on footpaths declared fundamental right; implementation challenges persist. Stakeholders: Pedestrians Urban local bodies Street vendors Motorists State governments Static Knowledge High Value Background: Article 21 has been expansively interpreted to include right to livelihood, clean environment, and now right to walk. Exam Linkage: Useful for questions on fundamental rights, judicial interpretation, and urban governance challenges. Concepts in Context: Right of way: legal right of a pedestrian to proceed along a footpath without obstruction. Restitutionary remedies: court ordered compensation or res

## UPSC CSE Context **Why in News:** Supreme Court reaffirmed right to walk on footpaths as fundamental right under Article 21. **Syllabus Connection:** Polity: Fundamental Rights, Judicial Activism; Governance: Urban Infrastructure, Pedestrian Safety. **Exam Relevance:** Relevant for questions on right to life, urban governance, street vending, and public policy implementation. ## Core Issue Right to walk on footpaths declared fundamental right; implementation challenges persist. **Stakeholders:** - Pedestrians - Urban local bodies - Street vendors - Motorists - State governments ## Static Knowledge **High-Value Background:** - Article 21 has been expansively interpreted to include right to livelihood, clean environment, and now right to walk. **Exam Linkage:** - Useful for questions on fundamental rights, judicial interpretation, and urban governance challenges. **Concepts in Context:** - Right of way: legal right of a pedestrian to proceed along a footpath without obstruction. - Restitutionary remedies: court-ordered compensation or restoration to rectify harm. **Institutions and Mechanisms:** - Supreme Court of India: expanded Article 21 to include right to walk. ## Dynamic Analysis ### Constitutional/Legal - Right to walk is now a fundamental right, but its enforcement depends on state action to build and maintain footpaths. - Court's restitutionary remedy approach may lead to compensation claims but not systemic change. ### Governance - Pedestrian safety is fragmented across municipal laws, town-planning statutes, and street design guidelines without a national law. - State often prioritizes road widening over footpath construction, reflecting car-centric urban planning. ### Society - Rights-based legislation alone insufficient to change public culture; social messaging and enforcement needed. - Clearing footpaths of vendors may gentrify public spaces and criminalize survival of urban poor. ## Prelims Takeaways - Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act 2003 used social messaging and fines, not restitutionary remedies. ## Mains Value Addition **Arguments:** - Right to walk is meaningless without state provision of continuous, unobstructed footpaths. - Cultural change requires consistent social messaging and enforcement, not just legal declarations. - Balancing pedestrian right of way with vendors' livelihood rights is a governance challenge. **Data Points:** - Supreme Court case involved death of a five-year-old boy hit by a tanker lorry in Karnataka. **Counterpoints:** - Legal right alone may not change public culture; example of littering persists despite Swachh Bharat. - Compensation after tragedy is reactive; proactive infrastructure investment is needed. ## Way Forward - Enact a national pedestrian safety law to unify standards and allocate funds for footpath infrastructure. - Integrate pedestrian needs into urban planning, prioritizing footpaths over road widening. - Launch social campaigns to promote pedestrian respect, similar to anti-tobacco messaging. - Use court orders to mandate state investment in pedestrian infrastructure, not just compensation.

Source: Editorial Analysis