By Nov 15, a plan to drive Bluelines out

A plan to phase out Blueline buses will be submitted by Nov 15, the Delhi Government told the Delhi High Court on Thursday, reports Harish V Nair.

A plan to phase out Blueline buses will be submitted by November 15, the Delhi Government told the Delhi High Court on Thursday. The court, on its part, tightened the screw harder on the killer fleet by ruling that a Blueline bus, impounded after causing a fatal accident or a grievous injury, can be released only on its permission.

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A division bench comprising Justice Mukul Mudgal and Reva Khetrapal expressed shock over the ease with which buses involved in serious accidents returned to the roads. The bench is also considering asking the owner to deposit an amount as an interim compensation to the victim before the vehicle is handed back.

Presently, the police impounds a vehicle involved in an accident but it can be released by a metropolitan magistrate on an application by the owner. This means that a killer bus is back on road in three to four days. The errant driver takes more or less the same time to come out on bail.

“Today’s scenario is a testimony to the fact that the prevailing procedure has hardly acted as a deterrent. So let these buses come before us and we will decide when to release them, the bench noted.

The Bench said that from now on magistrates will be asked to send a copy of the release order to the high court and the court will order the release after being “satisfied about the road-worthiness of the vehicle.”