The Supreme Court has declared the hand-pulled rickshaw in Matheran (one person carrying another on a cart) as inhuman, and one that violates the constitutional promise of social and economic justice in India. The Maharashtra government was directed by a bench presided over by Chief Justice B. R. Gavai to phase out the practice in six months. The court referred to an earlier case (Azad Rickshaw Pullers Union, 1980), heavily criticising the practice of forced and exploitative labour by emphasising that the practice existed up to 78 years after Independence. The court observed that whatever is hauled by a majority is not out of choice but necessity, thus demanded that the state rehabilitates them, and this is by creating e-rickshaws- a more comfortable alternative to the planet and a source of dignity. The model was quoted to be available in Gujarat, Kevadia, where tribal women hire e-rickshaws.