Supreme Court Allows Vehicle Registration Applications in Environmental PIL for Public Utility Services. Applications for municipal and fire service vehicles were granted, while private individual applications were deferred for jurisdictional verification.

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Case Note & Summary

The Supreme Court of India heard multiple interlocutory applications in a long-standing public interest litigation writ petition concerning environmental matters, originally filed in 1985. The applications sought directions for the registration of various vehicles, including CNG BS-IV and BS-VI trucks, auto tippers, hook loaders, fire units, buses, and private cars, with some applications also requesting impleadment. The court considered these applications based on whether the vehicles were intended for public utility services, such as municipal waste management by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation and East Delhi Municipal Corporation, or for public purposes like fire services by the Delhi Fire Service. For applications involving public utility services, the court allowed the registrations, citing earlier orders and the public benefit. However, for applications by private individuals, such as Munnu Singh and Kumar Pal Singh, the court deferred decisions, directing the Amicus Curiae to verify jurisdictional issues and consider whether the applicants should approach the Allahabad High Court, given refusals by the Uttar Pradesh Transport Authority. The court's analysis focused on the purpose of the vehicles and compliance with environmental norms, without delving into detailed legal arguments or precedents. The final decision involved allowing most applications for public utility vehicles while adjourning private ones for further verification, with directions to call the matter after four weeks for updates.

Headnote

A) Environmental Law - Vehicle Registration - Public Utility Services - Supreme Court Orders - Applications for registration of vehicles used for public utility services, such as municipal waste management and fire services, were allowed following earlier court orders, emphasizing the public purpose and compliance with BS-IV/BS-VI norms (Paras 6-7).

B) Civil Procedure - Impleadment and Directions - Private Vehicle Registration - Supreme Court Orders - Applications by private individuals for vehicle registration were deferred for verification by the Amicus Curiae to determine jurisdiction, with directions to consider approaching the Allahabad High Court if applicable (Paras 6-8).

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Issue of Consideration

Whether applications for registration of vehicles, including CNG BS-IV and BS-VI vehicles, should be allowed in the context of public utility services and compliance with environmental norms.

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Final Decision

The court allowed applications for registration of vehicles used for public utility services, such as those by North Delhi Municipal Corporation, East Delhi Municipal Corporation, Delhi Fire Service, and others, following earlier orders. Applications by private individuals, Munnu Singh and Kumar Pal Singh, were deferred for verification by the Amicus Curiae regarding jurisdiction, with directions to consider approaching the Allahabad High Court. The matter was called after four weeks.

Law Points

  • Public interest litigation
  • vehicle registration
  • environmental compliance
  • public utility services
  • judicial directions
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Case Details

2021 LawText (SC) (4) 57

Writ Petition(s)(Civil) No. 13029/1985

2021-04-09

HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE, HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE A.S. BOPANNA, HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE V. RAMASUBRAMANIAN

Mr. Harish N. Salve, Sr. Adv. (A.C.), Ms. Aparajita Singh, Sr. Adv. (A.C.), Mr. A.D.N. Rao, Adv. (A.C.), Mr. Siddhartha Chowdhury, Adv. (A.C.), Petitioner-In-Person, Mr Tushar Mehta, Ld SG, Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, Ld. ASG, Mr. Wasim Qadri, Sr. Adv., Ms. Archana Pathak Dave, Adv., Mr. D.L. Chidanand, Adv., Mr. S. S. Rebello, Adv., Mr. Rajesh Kumar Singh, Adv., Ms. Suhasini Sen, Adv., Ms. Snidha Mehra, Adv., Mr. Vibhu Shankar Mishra, Adv., Mr. Wasim, Adv., Mr. Subhranshu Padhi, Adv., Mr. G.S. Makker, AOR, Mr. Raj Bahadur, AOR, Mr. B. V. Balaram Das, AOR, Ms. D.L. Chidananda, Adv., Mr. Rajesh Kr. Singh, Adv., Mr. Subranshu Padhi, Adv., Mr. Anil Grover, Sr. AAG Haryana, Ms. Noopur Singhal, Adv., Mr. Rahul Khurana, Adv., Mr. Satish Kumar, Adv., Mr. Sanjay Kumar Visen, AOR, Mr. V . Shekhar, Sr. Adv., Ms. Sheetal Rajpoot, Adv., Mr. Rajeev Kumar Dubey, Adv., Mr. Ashiwan Mishra, Adv., Mr. Kamlendra Mishra, AOR, Dr. Manish Singhvi, Sr. Adv., Mr. Sandeep Kr. Jha, Aor, Ms. Uttara Babbar, Aor, Mr. Manan Bansal, Adv., Ms. Shweta Mohta, Adv., Mr. Chirag M. Shroff, Aor, Ms. Abhilasha Bharti, Adv., Mr. Sushant Dogra, Adv., Mr. Sanjiv Sen, Sr. Adv., Mr. Praveen Swarup, AOR, Ms. Pareena Swarup, Adv., Mr. Ameet Siingh, Adv., Mr. Kanishk Chaudhary, Adv., Ms. Sadiya Shakeel, Adv., Ms. Purnima Jauhari, Aor, Ms. Nidhi Mohan Parashar, AOR, Mr. Vikrant Kumar, Adv., Ms. Meghna Jandu, Adv., Applicant(s) -in-person, Mr. Gurmeet Singh Makker, AOR, Mr. Mukesh Kumar Maroria, AOR, Mr. P. K. Jain, AOR, Mr. Ramesh Babu M. R., AOR, Mr. Rajesh Kumar Chaurasia, AOR, Mr. Sushil Kumar Singh, AOR, Mr. S. K. Bhattacharya, AOR, Mr. Pavan Kumar, AOR, Mr. Rakesh K. Sharma, AOR, Ms. Shalini Kaul, AOR, Mr. Satya Mitra, AOR, Mr. Munawwar Naseem, AOR, Ms. Nandini Gidwaney, AOR, Mr. Balaji Srinivasan, AOR, Mr. Ejaz Maqbool, AOR, M/S. Parekh & Co., AOR, Mrs. Priya Puri, AOR, Mr. Parijat Sinha, AOR, Mr. K. R. Sasiprabhu, AOR, Mr. Sushil Kumar Jain, AOR, Mr. E. C. Agrawala, AOR, Mr. Ravindra Kumar, AOR, Mr. Rajiv Ranjan Dwivedi, AOR, M/S. S. Narain & Co., AOR, Mr. Vijay Panjwani, AOR, Mrs. B. Sunita Rao, AOR, Mr. Radha Shyam Jena, AOR, Mr. Hardeep Singh Anand, AOR, Ms. Ruchi Kohli, AOR, Mr. Praveen Swarup, AOR, Mr. V. K. Verma, AOR, Dr. Monika Gusain, AOR, Mr. P. Parmeswaran, AOR, Mr. Ajit Pudussery, AOR, Mrs. Rani Chhabra, AOR, Mr. Aniruddha Deshmukh, AOR, Ms. Hemantika Wahi, AOR, Ms. Sujeeta Srivastava, AOR, Ms. Manjula Gupta, AOR, M/S. M. V. Kini & Associates, AOR, Mr. Anil Kumar Jha, AOR, Mr. Shri Narain, AOR, Mr. Abhishek, AOR, Mr. Pradeep Kumar Bakshi, AOR, Mr. Sudhir Mendiratta, AOR, M/S. Khaitan & Co., AOR, M/S. Saharya & Co., AOR, Mrs. K. Sarada Devi, AOR, Mr. Mohit D. Ram, AOR, Mrs. Bina Gupta, AOR, Mr. Sandeep Narain, AOR, Mr. Ravindra Bana, AOR, Mr. Chirag M. Shroff, AOR, Mr. T. V. Ratnam, AOR, Mr. Mukesh K. Giri, AOR, Mr. G. Prakash, AOR, Mr. Sarvam Ritam Khare, AOR, Mr. Prashant Kumar, AOR, Mr. S. S. Shroff, AOR, Mrs. Anil Katiyar, AOR, Mr. Umesh Kumar Khaitan, AOR, Mr. Pramod Dayal, AOR, Ms. Binu Tamta, AOR, Mr. Surya Kant, AOR, Mr. Annam D. N. Rao, AOR, Mr. Sanjay Kumar Visen, AOR, Mr. Rakesh Kumar-i, AOR, Mr. Ashok Mathur, AOR, Mr. R. P. Gupta, AOR, Ms. Pritha Srikumar, AOR, Ms. Divya Jyoti Singh, AOR, Ms. Nidhi Jaswal, AOR, Ms. Suruchii Aggarwal, AOR, Mr. Vinay Garg, AOR, Mr. Prakash Ranjan Nayak, AOR, Mr. Shishir Deshpande, AOR, Mr. Santosh Kumar - I, AOR, Mr. Anas Tanwir, AOR, Mr. Senthil Jagadeesan, AOR, Mr. Akshay Girish Ringe, AOR, Mr. Vishwajit Singh, AOR, Mr. Avijit Mani Tripathi, AOR, Mr. Shovan Mishra, AOR, Mr. Aakarshan Aditya, AOR, Mr. Gautam Narayan, AOR, Mr. Kamlendra Mishra, AOR, Mr. Rishi Matoliya, AOR, Ms. Kiran Bhardwaj, AOR, Ms. Shagun Matta, AOR, Mr. Anil Kumar, AOR, Mr. Nirnimesh Dube, AOR, Mr. Ashutosh Dubey, AOR, Mr. Mahfooz Ahsan Nazki, AOR, Ms. Mayuri Raghuvanshi, AOR, Ms. Uttara Babbar, AOR, Ms. Nidhi Mohan Parashar, AOR, Mr. M. P. Devanath, AOR, Mr. Rajan Narain, AOR, Mr. Neeraj Shekhar, AOR, Mr. Deepayan Mandal, AOR, Mr. M. Yogesh Kanna, AOR, Mr. Subhro Sanyal, AOR, Ms. Tulika Mukherjee, AOR, Mr. Rishi Malhotra, AOR, Ms. Anushree Prashit Kapadia, AOR, Mr. Pranav Sachdeva, AOR, Ms. Astha Tyagi, AOR, Mr. T. R. B. Sivakumar, AOR, Mr. Prasanna S., AOR, Mr. V. N. Raghupathy, AOR, Mr. Yoginder Handoo, AOR, Ms. Sakshi Kakkar, AOR, Mr. D. Abhinav Rao, AOR, Ms. Diksha Rai, AOR, Ms. Surabhi Sanchita, AOR, Ms. Madhumita Bhattacharjee, AOR, Mr. Gopal Jha, AOR, Mr. Sandeep Singh, AOR, Mr. M. Shoeb Alam, AOR, Ms. Astha Sharma, AOR, Ms. Divya Roy, AOR, Mr. Debojit Borkakati, AOR, Mr. Durga Dutt, AOR, Mr. Vivek Gupta, AOR, Mr. Vipin Nair, AOR, Ms. Puja Sharma, AOR, Mr. Ravi Prakash, AOR, Mr. V. G. Pragasam, AOR, Ms. Aswathi M.k., AOR, Mr. Shekhar Kumar, AOR, M/S. Ram Sankar & Co, AOR, Mr. Raj Bahadur Yadav, AOR, Ms. Surbhi Mehta, AOR, Ms. K. Enatoli Sema, AOR, Mr. Anurag Kishore, AOR, Ms. Lubna Naaz, AOR, Mr. B. V. Balaram Das, AOR, Mr. Narendra Kumar, AOR, Mr. D. N. Goburdhan, AOR, Ms. Jaikriti S. Jadeja, AOR, Ms. G. Indira, AOR, Mr. Nitin Saluja, AOR, Mr. Yash Pal Dhingra, AOR, Mr. R. C. Kohli, AOR, Mr. Kuldip Singh, AOR, Mr. Mohit Paul, AOR, Mr. Shuvodeep Roy, AOR, Mr. Sandeep Kumar Jha, AOR, Ms. Garima Prashad, AOR, Mr. Chandra Prakash, AOR, Mr. Vinodh Kanna B., AOR, M/S. Karanjawala & Co., AOR, Mr. Sameer Shrivastava, AOR, Mr. Vikrant Singh Bais, AOR, Ms. Manju Jetley, AOR, Mr. Tapesh Kumar Singh, AOR, Mr. Ayush Sharma, AOR, Mr. Rajiv Yadav, AOR, Ms. Charu Ambwani, AOR, Ms. Misha Rohatgi, AOR, Mr. Gaurav, AOR, Mr. Vinod Sharma, AOR, Mr. Mritunjay Kumar Sinha, AOR, Mr. Pradeep Misra, AOR, Mr. Jogy Scaria, AOR, Mr. Sunil Fernandes, AOR

M.C. Mehta

Union of India & Ors.

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Nature of Litigation

Public interest litigation concerning environmental matters, with multiple interlocutory applications for vehicle registration.

Remedy Sought

Applicants sought directions for registration of vehicles, including CNG BS-IV and BS-VI trucks, auto tippers, hook loaders, fire units, buses, and private cars, with some also seeking impleadment.

Filing Reason

Applications were filed to overcome refusals or delays in vehicle registration by transport authorities, particularly for public utility services and private vehicles.

Previous Decisions

The court referred to earlier orders, including an Order dated 18.09.2020, in allowing some applications.

Issues

Whether applications for registration of vehicles should be allowed for public utility services. Whether applications by private individuals for vehicle registration should be deferred for jurisdictional verification.

Ratio Decidendi

Applications for vehicle registration should be allowed if the vehicles are for public utility services and comply with environmental norms, while private applications may require jurisdictional verification.

Judgment Excerpts

Since these vehicles are to be put to use for public utility services, the application is allowed as prayed for, following the Order dated 18.09.2020 passed by this Court. Shri A.D.N. Rao, learned Amicus Curiae may verify whether the applications can be considered here or the applicant should be permitted to move the Allahabad High Court. Since the vehicles in question are to be put to use for public purposes and also since they have been purchased before 31.03.2020 and also registered on the E-Vahan portal, the applications are allowed.

Procedural History

The Supreme Court heard multiple interlocutory applications in Writ Petition(s)(Civil) No. 13029/1985 on 09-04-2021, with applications filed by various entities and individuals seeking directions for vehicle registration and impleadment.

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