Can lawyers be exempted from Odd-Even, asks Delhi High Court

In a surprising move, the Delhi High Court today asked the Delhi Government whether it would consider a ‘suspension’ of applying the Odd-Even Scheme to the lawyers in the city..Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath were hearing a petition filed by Delhi High Court Bar Association President Rajiv Khosla who had sought an exemption for lawyers under the ongoing Scheme..The second phase of the Odd-Even Scheme begun from April 15 and would go on till April 30..Khosla in his petition says,.“…it is not out of place to mention herein that the most of the advocates practicing in High Court of Delhi as well as District Courts …. majority of the Advocates have to carry their bulky files and Law books from their residence / offices to one Court and carry the same to other Courts/Tribunals which are scattered at far off places where no Public Transport is available. .It is also worthwhile to bring to the kind Notice of this Hon’ble Court that most of the Lawyers are having cases on the same day and at different times of the day in different Courts and Tribunals and as such car pooling is impossible.”.Today when the case came up for hearing, Khosla argued that the exemption should be extended to lawyers as they constituted a ‘different class’. He also furnished data regarding the location of various tribunals in Delhi, as well as a report of the Central Pollution Control Board that had said that the Scheme had no impact on vehicular pollution..Appearing for the Delhi Government, Rahul Mehra said that the Scheme was only for 15 days, out of which only few days were left..The Bench then put a suggestion to Mehra and told him to seek instructions as to whether for the remaining days, the lawyers could be granted the exemption asked for..This seems to be a different position adopted by the Bench; the court had previously supported the initiative and criticized those who had challenged the Scheme earlier..The case will now be heard on April 27.