Plea in Supreme Court against policy to scrap old vehicles despite roadworthiness

A petition has been filed before the Supreme Court of India against the Delhi government's policy for mandatory scrapping of old vehicles [Nagalaxmi Laxmi Narayan v Union of India].

The petitioner, one Nagalaxmi Laxmi Narayan, has raised grievance with the 2024 'Handling End of Life Vehicles in Public Places of Delhi' guidelines that mandatorily require the scrapping of diesel vehicles older than 10 years and petrol vehicles older than 15 years irrespective of their roadworthiness.

"The retrospective application of the guidelines to vehicles is arbitrary, violates the Applicant’s legitimate expectation, and deprives the Applicant of their right to property under Article 300A of the Constitution," it has been contended.

The plea, as is the norm in environmental cases before the apex court, has been filed as an impleadment application in the already pending MC Mehta matter.

The guidelines under challenge stem from an order of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) if 2015, which had later been upheld by the Supreme Court.

However, as per the petitioner, it is not clear as to whether verdict was prospective or not.

The petitioner has contended that the scrapping rules are being applied without due consideration of the vehicles' actual emissions or condition, causing undue hardship to its owners.

The sudden enforcement of the scrapping policy violates the vehicles' lawful terms of purchase, it has been argued.

As per the plea, a prospective application of the guidelines and policy is called for along with compensation for those from economically lower sections of society.

The same would help in protecting the environment and also ensure that well-maintained vehicles are not taken off the roads.

The petition was drawn by advocate Abhinav Verma and filed through advocate Charu Mathur.