NEW DELHI: Ensure you have a 'pollution under control' (PUC) certificate for your vehicle or be ready to cough up a fine. The Delhi high court on Wednesday ordered the transport department and traffic police to launch a drive to ensure that city vehicles comply with emission norms and have valid pollution certificates.
Acting Chief Justice B D Ahmed and Justice S Mridul passed the order on a PIL which alleged that nearly 60 lakh vehicles in Delhi were plying without proper PUCs, causing pollution and damaging the environment. It sought strict implementation of PUC certification provisions to improve the city's air quality.
The HC has asked the city administration to launch a campaign for Delhiites to get pollution under control certificates for their vehicles.
"The transport department of government of NCT Delhi is to chalk out a plan to ensure that all vehicles plying in Delhi carry the PUC certification. Due notice will be given to public through advertisements," the bench said and sought a status report by the next date of hearing in May this year.
On an oral request by petitioner Mahesh Kumar Gupta, HC made the DMRC a party in the case. Gupta had said commuters faced problems due to shortage of sufficient feeder buses to and fro from localities near Metro stations. He said there were no feeder services connecting his area, GK-I, to the nearby Metro station and residents were forced to commute in their vehicles which contributed to air pollution.
His PIL alleged that the PUC certification norms given under the Motor Vehicles Act and Central Motor Rules were not being strictly enforced. The PIL pointed out an anomaly. It said defaulters caught by the police for not having a PUC are fined Rs 100 but those caught by the transport department have to pay Rs 1,000 for the same offence.
When the court asked standing counsel Zubeda Behum about this, she informed the bench that% the Act enacted by the Centre decides the fine structure and Delhi can't amend it on its own.
