Delhi High Court directed the South-East District Magistrate to examine objections against the proposed ‘Burnout City’ car and bike festival at Okhla. The order followed a PIL citing serious concerns over worsening air quality in the national capital.
NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court instructed the South-East District Magistrate to review a petition raising concerns about the impending car and bike festival ‘Burnout City,’ scheduled for January 17 at the NSIC Ground, Okhla.
This directive followed a public interest litigation (PIL) that opposed the event due to Delhi’s deteriorating air quality.
A division bench, featuring Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia, considered the petition but refrained from commenting on its merits. Instead, they urged the district magistrate to make a prompt decision after examining the issues presented.
During the hearing, the bench expressed disappointment regarding the petition’s filing, particularly the lack of scientific data to support the claims made by the petitioner. The plea argued that the stunt based motor event would worsen air pollution in the area due to high fuel consumption and emissions generated by vehicles performing high RPM stunts.
Challenging the petitioner’s premises, the bench remarked,
” Is there any data? The petition seems to be based on speculations by you. No scientific basis is given. You are speculating because of high RPM and vehicles consuming more petrol,”
The court also pointed out procedural errors in the PIL filing, highlighting that the petitioner did not include the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), the statutory body responsible for enforcing the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in Delhi as a respondent.
Additionally, the standing counsel for the Delhi government and the district magistrate had not been properly notified about the petition either.
Expressing frustration over the incomplete submissions, stated the court,
“The district magistrate is not served. Why do you file a petition with such callousness and non-seriousness? The Commission is not a party here,”
While the High Court chose not to assess the merits of the petitioner’s claims.
It ordered,
“Without entering into the merits, we require that the district magistrate, south-east, shall look into the grievance raised in the writ petition, especially in the representation dated January 4, as enclosed in the writ petition, and take appropriate decision.”
The event “Burnout City” is anticipated to showcase automobile stunts and performances, raising alarms about its environmental repercussions in an already pollution-ridden capital.