Delhi High Court asks Kejriwal govt to consider petitions on Odd-Even scheme

Delhi High Court has asked the Arvind Kejriwal government to consider pleas of petitioners who have challenged the third edition of the Odd-Even scheme.

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Friday asked the Delhi government to consider the representation of various petitioners who have challenged the third edition of the Odd-Even scheme, proposed to be carried out between November 4 and 15.

The multiple petitions have raised questions over the city government's odd-even scheme which had not granted exemption to CNG vehicles to ply on the roads because it is difficult to check fuel of every vehicle.

A Division Bench of Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice C. Harishankar, while disposing of multiple petitions, asked the petitioners to make their representation before the Delhi government. The court asked the government to consider on their pleas as per law on or before November 5.

The petitioners have said that the two-wheeler vehicles which are causing the maximum pollution have been exempted. It also raised issues of granting exemption to women drivers stating that since the women are exempted from the scheme, it denies equality before the law on the grounds of gender. The petitioners have sought the scheme to be struck down by the court as it "blatantly violates" the fundamental right guaranteed under the Constitution.

One of the petitioners Sanjjiiv Kumar said that odd-even scheme is arbitrary and illogical. He also said that it is done solely for vote bank politics by spending crores of rupees on advertisements and promotion in the guise of curbing pollution.