The Delhi High Court on Thursday slammed the brakes on the comeback of killer Blueline buses in the Capital.
Rejecting the new policy for “rehabilitation of erstwhile Blueline bus operators” in which they were allowed to operate “mid-sized buses” in some parts of the Capital, the division bench of Chief Justice NV Ramana and Justice Pradeep Nandrajog said, “This scheme has to go. It cannot be accepted in its present form.” While reserving the verdict in the matter, the Court also said, “The Government is free to frame a new scheme for their rehabilitation in consonance with the Court’s March 3, 2011 directions. A detailed order will be passed later.”
The Government, in April this year, had proposed to allow the operators of Blueline buses phased out in January 2011. According to the Government scheme, the mid-sized Blueline buses could ply in “rural areas restricted broadly beyond Outer Ring Road and trans-Yamuna.”
The Government had approached the High Court with the proposed rehabilitation plan saying that the Transport Department has worked out a policy to rehabilitate nearly 1,500 Blueline bus operators, who had surrendered their permits few years ago when the State had announced its plan to phase out these buses.
The Court was hearing the arguments of senior advocate Kailash Vasudev, who was assisting the bench amicus curiae and was opposing the Government’s rehabilitation scheme. Opposing the scheme, the lawyer said the new policy allowed the same operators to come back to roads which would lead to the same old situation.
According to the Government, the emphasis is to connect areas developed in the past 10 years such as Dwarka, Rohini, Jasola, Vasant Kunj, Narela and unauthorised colonies in outer Delhi with South Delhi. The Transport Department has also fixed boundaries beyond which the buses won’t be plying, prohibiting them from entering New Delhi and Central Delhi.