Delhi High Court orders the release of overage cars, with riders

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday ordered the release of old cars seized in the city under two conditions. The “end-of-life” vehicles, which were seized in Delhi, are to be released on an undertaking by the owners to either permanently park them in private spaces or remove them from the city limits.

Justice Prateek Jalan was dealing with a batch of petitions against the seizure of cars by authorities for being in violation of judicial orders banning the use of petrol and diesel vehicles that are over 15 years and 10 years of age, respectively. The court asked the Delhi government to frame a policy on dealing with such vehicles when owners are willing to assure that they would not be used here and give “due publicity” to the same.

It observed that the intention behind the policy was not to scrap the cars but to ensure that the national capital is pollution-free, and a balance has to be maintained between the right to use one’s property and environmental interests.