Supreme Court asks for crash-test report on quadricycles; Autowallahs hire top lawyers

NEW DELHI: Supreme Court on Monday asked for crash-test report of quadricycles, whose manufacture has been allowed by the Centre, after a battery of top lawyers hired by the autorickshaw drivers' association argued against launch of the vehicle that could end domination of three-wheelers in city transport.

It was a show of strength by autorickshaw drivers' association that engaged heavyweight lawyers like Gopal Subramanium, K K Venugopal and C A Sundaram to challenge Centre's policy decision to permit manufacture of quadricycles.

Opposing drivers' concerns on commuter safety were senior advocates P Chidambaram and A M Singhvi, who appeared for quadricyle manufacturers. Government has amended Motor Vehicle Rules to allow manufacture of quadricyles, which can provide commuters better last-mile connectivity.

A bench of Chief Justice T S Thakur and justice U U Lalit took a look at photos of prototype and said, "It is not a cycle. There is no cycle in this quadricycle." However, it was surprised by association engaging top advocates.