Delhi High Court rejects plea to allow two-wheelers on all National Highways, Expressways

The Delhi High Court recently refused to entertain two petitions seeking permission to allow two-wheelers to ply on all National Highways and Expressways [Gautam Kumar Laha vs NHAI & Anr.].

One was a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by one Gautam Kumar Laha who sought quashing of a 2018 notification issued by National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) that prohibits two-wheelers to enter access- controlled expressways. The petition also challenged the penalty of ₹20,000 on erring motorcyclists.

The other was a writ petition filed by a motor cycle enthusiast, one Sidhant Malaiya, which besides seeking quashing of the 2018 notification, also sought a direction to permit two wheelers to ply on all Highways and Expressways. It also sought direction to frame guidelines for usage of two wheelers on the National Highways and Expressways.

A Bench of Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela rejected the petitions citing a previous judgment in Yuvraj Francis v. Union of India & Ors.

“To the submission of the learned counsel for the petitioner that there is no rationale or nexus in restricting the types of vehicles plying on expressway, the said judgment in Yuvraj Francis (supra) provides sufficient reasons,” the Court stated.

In the Yuvraj Francis case, the High Court had observed that it is not safe for two-wheelers to use Expressways where high-speed vehicles ply.

“The inherent vulnerability of slow-moving vehicles, notably two-wheelers, three-wheelers, tractors, and the like, when juxtaposed against high-speed vehicles, further amplifies this risk. The disparity in the speed rating for different categories of vehicles complicates the ability of drivers to accurately gauge distances, presenting an additional hazard,” the Court had said in that judgment.

Since that verdict was also by a Division Bench, the Court found it fit in the present case to not tinker with the ruling as regards allowing two-wheelers on Expressways.

However, as regards the penalty of ₹20,000, the Court granted liberty to PIL petitioner Gautam Kumar Laha to submit a representation in this regard to NHAI. The Court also directed NHAI to decide on this representation within four weeks.

Advocates Praveen Agrawal and Dhamija appeared for petitioner Gautam Kumar Laha.

Advocates Dr. Amit George, Jasmeet Singh, Saif Ali, Pushpendra S Bhadoriya, Vijay Sharma, Pranav Menon, Saurav appeared for petitioner Sidhant Malaiya.

Standing Counsel Santosh Kumar and advocate Sangeeta Vazirani appeared for NHAI.

Additional Standing Counsel Chetan Sharma, Central Government Standing Counsel Apoorv Kurup and Ankur Mittal and advocates Arnav Mittal, Gurjas S Narula, Shaurya Agarwal, Nidhi Mittal and Aakash Kr. Singh appeared for the Central government.

[Read order]