India, Aug. 7 -- The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Maharashtra government to put an end to the functioning of hand-pulled rickshaws in Matheran within six months and switch to e-rickshaws, while calling the practice "inhuman" and "against the basic concept of human dignity".

Hearing a plea filed by the Handcart Pullers Association seeking the introduction of e-rickshaws in place of the manual hand-pulled rickshaws, a bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai, Justice K Vinod Chandran and Justice N V Anjaria said, "Permitting such a practice, which is against the basic concept of human dignity in a country like India, belittles the constitutional promises of social and economic justice."

While referring to a scheme in Gujarat wh...