The petitioner, Nagalaxmi Laxmi Narayan, has expressed concerns over the 2024 guidelines titled Handling End of Life Vehicles in Public Places of Delhi, which mandate the scrapping of diesel vehicles older than 10 years and petrol vehicles older than 15 years, regardless of their condition or roadworthiness.
NEW DELHI: A petition has been submitted to the Supreme Court of India challenging the Delhi government’s mandatory scrapping policy for old vehicles.
The petitioner, Nagalaxmi Laxmi Narayan, has expressed concerns over the 2024 guidelines titled Handling End of Life Vehicles in Public Places of Delhi, which mandate the scrapping of diesel vehicles older than 10 years and petrol vehicles older than 15 years, regardless of their condition or roadworthiness.
The petition argues that the retroactive enforcement of these guidelines is arbitrary, violates the petitioner’s legitimate expectations, and infringes upon the right to property under Article 300A of the Constitution. It has been submitted as an impleadment application in the ongoing MC Mehta case, a common practice in environmental matters before the apex court.
The guidelines under challenge are rooted in a 2015 order by the National Green Tribunal (NGT), which was later upheld by the Supreme Court. However, the petitioner asserts that there is ambiguity about whether the ruling was intended to apply retroactively.
The plea claims that the scrapping policy is being implemented without properly considering vehicles’ actual emissions or condition, thereby imposing undue hardship on their owners. It further argues that the sudden enforcement violates the lawful terms under which these vehicles were purchased.
The petitioner has called for the guidelines to be applied prospectively and for compensation to be provided to economically disadvantaged vehicle owners. This approach, the plea argues, would protect the environment while ensuring that well-maintained vehicles are not unfairly removed from the roads.
The petition was drafted by advocate Abhinav Verma and filed by advocate Charu Mathur.
