E-Paper
Supreme Court rejects PIL seeking ‘one car, one person’
The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a PIL seeking enforcement of “one car one person” norm, besides demanding imposition of environmental tax on every second vehicle, stating that these are policy issues on which courts cannot intervene.
The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking enforcement of “one car one person” norm, besides demanding imposition of environmental tax on every second vehicle, stating that these are policy issues on which courts cannot intervene.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud said, “We cannot issue these kind of directions — allow one car one person, ensure effective tax, second car to have environment tax, commission for air pollution. This is a matter of policy.”
The court was dealing with a PIL filed by Tsunami on Roads, a non-governmental organisation. Its founder, Sanjay Kulshreshtra, submitted that the burgeoning volume of vehicles on roads was creating a huge environmental crisis, and suggested that limiting the numbers of cars that can be bought by an individual and imposing environmental tax will help keep vehicular pollution in check.
The bench, which also comprised justice PS Narasimha, told the petitioner, “We cannot enter into every area where there is concern of governance. We are here to solve legal issues. Your petition is bonafide but we cannot enter into issues relating to environmental policy.”
The petitioner submitted that India in 2021 registered sale of over 3 million cars. “See the kind of cars being purchased. This does not match up with the number of taxpayers in the country,” he said.
The court said, “The revenue side of the government is trying to keep pace with taxpayers. We do not have to come to their aid. They are doing their effort.”
While declining to interfere, the bench said, “The petitioner will be at liberty to pursue his grievance as per the remedies available under law.”
