Abraham Thomas, New Delhi
The Supreme Court docket on Friday refused to entertain a public curiosity litigation (PIL) looking for enforcement of “one automotive one particular person” norm, apart from demanding imposition of environmental tax on each second car, stating that these are coverage points on which courts can’t intervene.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud stated, “We can’t subject these sort of instructions — enable one automotive one particular person, guarantee efficient tax, second automotive to have surroundings tax, fee for air air pollution. This can be a matter of coverage.”
The court docket was coping with a PIL filed by Tsunami on Roads, a non-governmental organisation. Its founder, Sanjay Kulshreshtra, submitted that the burgeoning quantity of autos on roads was creating an enormous environmental disaster, and instructed that limiting the numbers of automobiles that may be purchased by a person and imposing environmental tax will assist maintain vehicular air pollution in test.
The bench, which additionally comprised justice PS Narasimha, advised the petitioner, “We can’t enter into each space the place there’s concern of governance. We’re right here to unravel authorized points. Your petition is bonafide however we can’t enter into points regarding environmental coverage.”
The petitioner submitted that India in 2021 registered sale of over 3 million automobiles. “See the sort of automobiles being bought. This doesn’t match up with the variety of taxpayers within the nation,” he stated.
The court docket stated, “The income aspect of the federal government is making an attempt to maintain tempo with taxpayers. We do not need to come back to their assist. They’re doing their effort.”
Whereas declining to intervene, the bench stated, “The petitioner shall be at liberty to pursue his grievance as per the treatments accessible underneath regulation.”