Apollo challenges mandatory licence, BIS mark for making tyres; HC seeks Centre reply

The Delhi High Court Wednesday sought response of the Centre on a plea by Apollo Tyres challenging a rule which makes it mandatory to have a valid licence before beginning manufacture of pneumatic tyres.

The company has also challenged the rule, under the Pneumatic Tyres and Tubes for Automotive Vehicles (Quality Control) Order of 2009, which prohibits manufacture, sale or distribution of tyres without the mark of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).

A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar issued notice to the Ministry of Commerce and sought its stand on the plea which has also sought directions to the government to permit the company to manufacture and sell tyres without the BIS mark, till the time the petition is pending adjudication.

Apollo Tyres, in its plea, has also urged the court to quash a letter dated June 28 sent by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade denying the company permission to manufacture or sell tyres from its new plant at Andhra Pradesh without a valid licence or BIS mark.

The company told the court that it has moved the plea as the Bureau will take minimum 105 days to process its application for a licence for its new plant in Andhra Pradesh and till then its investment in the factory will go waste.

It has claimed that the factory produces 18,000 tyres per day which costs the company Rs 1.3 crore per day and this much money would go waste if it has to wait 105 days to get a valid license to use the BIS mark.

It has also contended that since it holds valid licenses for its factories in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, there was no need to undergo the whole process again for a fresh license for its new plant.

After hearing brief arguments on behalf of the company, the court directed the central government to indicate its stand by November 22, the next date of hearing.