Plea in SC challenges Delhi Govt's guidelines on handling end-of-life vehicles

A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the Delhi Government's policy for mandatory scrapping of old vehicles.

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Petitioner N Laxmi Narayan contended that mandatory scrapping of 10-year-old diesel and 15-year-old petrol vehicles irrespective of their roadworthiness under the Guidelines for Handling End of Life Vehicle in Public Place, 2024 was arbitrary.

The guidelines are based on an order passed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in 2015 that was upheld by the Supreme Court.

However, Narayan submitted that “The retrospective application of the guidelines to vehicles is arbitrary, violates the applicant’s legitimate expectation, and deprives the applicant of their right to property under Article 300A of the Constitution.”

The scrapping rules were being applied without due consideration of vehicles' actual emissions or condition, causing undue hardship to owners, he pointed out. Well-maintained vehicles should not be taken off the roads, he said.

The sudden enforcement of the scrapping policy went against vehicles' lawful terms of purchase, he said, adding the policy should be made applicable prospectively and compensation should be given to those from economically lower sections of society.

The Delhi Government had in February issued fresh guidelines for handling end-of-life vehicles in public places, stipulating a penalty of Rs 10,000 for four-wheelers and Rs 5,000 for two-wheelers to be imposed on the owners of the impounded vehicles before they are released.

According to the guidelines, continuous enforcement drives should be conducted to phase out such vehicles from public places in the national capital and daily reports sent to the environment department for onward submission to the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM).

The government has classified the release procedure for impounded vehicles under two categories — those who wish to shift their vehicle out of Delhi-NCR and those who wish to park the vehicle in private spaces which are not shared parking places.

“On plying and parking of ELVs (end-of-life vehicles) in public place in NCT of Delhi, once impounded for the first time it can be released on the basis of submission of an undertaking that vehicle will not be plied or parked in any public place within the territory of Delhi and will be removed from the city…,” the guidelines read.

“In case of 4-wheeler, a penalty of Rs 10,000 along with towing charge and parking fee as notified in Delhi Maintenance and Management of Parking Places Rules, 2019, shall be charged before releasing of such ELVs. In case of 2-wheeler, a penalty of Rs 5,000 along with towing charge and parking fee as notified in Parking Rules 2019 shall be charged…,” it said.

Any end-of-life vehicle impounded for a second time and transport vehicles running on diesel fuel and aged more than 10 years cannot be released.

The application for the release of a vehicle along with necessary documents should be submitted within three weeks of impounding of the vehicle and an online platform will be developed for this purpose, it said.

According to the guidelines, impounded vehicles will be scrapped in case of three scenarios — non-submission of application for release within three weeks of impounding of the vehicle, rejection of application submitted for release and impounding of the same vehicle for the second time.

All scrap value shall be paid through digital mode only to the bank account in the name of the vehicle owner within 15 days of the vehicle being accepted by the Registered Vehicles Scrapping Facility, it added. —With PTI inputs