Not every observation from the Bench decides a case. In a lighter exchange during a hearing, Justice PS Narasimha turned to the everyday obstacle that keeps people from going electric, the want of somewhere to charge, and suggested the Supreme Court set an example by installing charging points of its own, with a quip about the one thing courts are known for: taking their time.
New Delhi: Justice PS Narasimha of the Supreme Court has suggested, in an oral observation during a hearing, that installing electric-vehicle charging facilities at the Court would encourage more people to switch to electric cars, remarking that a litigant could leave an EV to charge while the case is heard and return to a full battery.
The remarks came before a Bench of Justice Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe, during the hearing of a matter in which Senior Advocate Dama Seshadri Naidu was appearing and the subject of EV charging arose.
The exchange
Justice Narasimha recounted having advised an acquaintance who was buying a car to consider an electric one, only to be met with a familiar objection, that there was nowhere to charge it:
“I was suggesting to someone who was wanting to buy a car. I said now it’s better to buy an EV car. He said it’s very good and simple for you to say, but in my place, wherever I go, where is the charging point? There are no charging points, and because there are no charging points people are not buying electric cars.”
Observing that a shift from fossil fuels to electric makes a world of difference to pollution and sustainability, the judge suggested that the Court itself could lead by example:
“If you park your [electric car] in the Supreme Court here, by the time we dismiss the matter, you go back and your car is charged; that would be advantageous. Ask them to provide charging.”
A lighter note, a serious point
The observation, made in passing and in good humour, was not a direction and formed no part of any order. But beneath the wit lay a point the courts have taken seriously elsewhere: that the adoption of electric vehicles depends as much on charging infrastructure as on the will to switch, and that public institutions can help move the needle by providing it. The Supreme Court has, in other matters, pressed for faster EV adoption as a measure against pollution, and the judge’s suggestion that the Court fit its own premises with charging points is of a piece with that concern, delivered, on this occasion, with a smile about how long a hearing can take.
Case Details: Shri Swami Samarth Agencies Pharmaceutical and Consumer Distributors v. M.I.D.C. and Others [Diary No. 53282 of 2026]
Bench: Justice PS Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe, Supreme Court of India
Appearing: Senior Advocate Dama Seshadri Naidu
Note: The remarks were oral observations made during the hearing and do not form part of any order.