Plea filed in Delhi HC against mandatory scrapping of old vehicles

A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court against the Delhi government's policy for mandatory scrapping of old vehicles.

One Nagalaxmi Laxmi Narayan has challenged the 2024 'Handling End of Life Vehicles in Public Places of Delhi' guidelines that mandatorily require the scrapping of diesel vehicles older than 10 years and petrol vehicles older than 15 years irrespective of their roadworthiness.

“The retrospective application of the guidelines to vehicles is arbitrary, violates the applicant’s (Narayan) legitimate expectation, and deprives the applicant of their right to property under Article 300A of the Constitution," the petition said.


The petitioner stated that the scrapping rules were being applied without due consideration of the vehicles' actual emissions or condition, causing undue hardship to its owners. This enforcement of the scrapping policy violates the vehicles' lawful terms of purchase, it said, adding there has to a prospective application of the guidelines and policy with provision for granting compensation to economically lower sections of society.

This would not only help in protecting the environment but would ensure that well-maintained vehicles were not taken off the roads, Narayan said.