The Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises told National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Friday said that the tribunal’s orders of July 18 and July 20, in which it had directed the Delhi Government to cancel the registration of all diesel-powered vehicles which are more than 15-year-old from plying in the city, was in “contravention” of the provisions of the Motor Vehicle Act. Presently, there are no legal provision under which diesel vehicles which were more than 15-year-old and were BS I or BS II compliant could be scrapped.
In an affidavit to NGT, the Ministry said that “forcible scrapping” of vehicles might give rise to various litigations and such an order would “amount to penalizing the motor vehicles owners who have complied with the law of the land”. It is apprehended that forcible scrapping of vehicles done in compliance of the Tribunal’s order may give rise to innumerable writ petitions by affected vehicle owners, in various courts leading to wastage of precious time of these courts.”
The affidavit further said that term ‘de-registration’ of vehicles does not appear in The Motor Vehicle Act and there were enabling provisions for ‘suspension of registration’ and ‘cancellation of registration’. The tribunal had earlier said that diesel vehicles which are 15-year-old should be de-registered first and would not get a No Objection Certificate (NoC) for plying outside Delhi-NCR.
The affidavit further went on to say that motor vehicles have to carry a valid Pollution under Control certificate and therefore, “there is already a mechanism in place to allow only those motor vehicles to ply on road that comply with the requirement of having a valid PUC certificate”.
Referring to the existing Motor Vehicle Act, the ministry said that it does not provide any power to the State or the Central Government to cancel registration without examination of the vehicle. Further, the owner of the vehicle should be given an opportunity to make a representation before his vehicle is considered for cancellation of registration.
The Motor Vehicle Act also clearly mentions that registering authority should satisfy that the vehicle will constitute a danger to public and it is beyond reasonable repair, the affidavit said.