HC disposes off pleas against odd-even scheme, asks Delhi govt to consider petitioners' representation

The Delhi High Court on Friday disposed off pleas challenging the odd-even scheme and directed the state government to consider the petitioners' representation.

A division bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice C Harishankar directed the Kejriwal government to consider the petitions as a representation and deal with it as per law before November 5 and refused to grant a stay.

A bunch of Public Interest Litigations (PIL) were filed in the high court questioning several provisions including the exclusion of CNG vehicles from the government's odd-even road rationing scheme.

The petitioners alleged that remedy does not match with the cause behind the scheme -- to curb pollution in the national capital.

The petitions raised objections on the exemption of two-wheelers that "cause the maximum pollution" and alleged that CNG propelled private four-wheelers were actually not exempted as it is difficult to check the CNG sticker on vehicles.

They also said that the scheme was discriminatory in nature as it exempts women.

According to a plea, the scheme "denies equality before the law on the ground of sex". The petitioner sought quashing of the scheme as it "blatantly violates" the fundamental right guaranteed under the constitution. The petitioner also alleged that the scheme is being "enforced only to gain political mileage and no legal opinion was perhaps sought even from the law department of the state government before formulating it".

The petitions mentioned that the scheme violates Article 19(1)(g), 14, 15 of the Constitution and is "arbitrary, illogical, done capriciously in an unreasonable manner without adequately determining principle cause and remedy and solely for vote bank politics and spending crores of rupees in advertisement and promotion in the guise of curbing pollution".

One of the petition also alleged that the scheme takes sadistic pleasure by robbing lower-middle-class and middle-class their right to drive to earn their livelihood by doing their jobs and business by bracketing their four-wheelers.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had in September announced the third season of the odd-even vehicle scheme will come into effect for 12 days starting November 4 in Delhi.