Delhi government moves Supreme Court for relaxing ban on diesel cabs

NEW DELHI: A day after Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said the Modi government would approach the Supreme Court to relax the ban on diesel cabs in the capital, the Arvind Kejriwal government in Delhi rushed to the top court, also seeking a similar decision.

Senior advocate CU Singh mentioned the issue before a bench led by Chief Justice TS Thakur, citing law and order problem created by cab drivers in and around the city. Protesting drivers and taxi owners had blocked roads in the city, causing traffic jams.

The CJI was reluctant to relax the ban only to deal with such problems but asked the Delhi government to instead come out with a plan which would ease the rigour of the order.

Diesel cabs had been given time until April 30 to get themselves fitted with CNG kits so that they could run on the less-polluting fuel. On Saturday, the court said that it would not give any more time beyond May 1 for diesel cabs to convert.

The Chief Justice asked Singh to come back with a long-term proposal which would take care of the court's concerns on environment and also give the diesel cabs time to switch.