NEW DELHI: In an unprecedented step, the Supreme Court on Wednesday requested road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari to come to the court and explain the government’s policy vision on curbing vehicular pollution by gradual transition from fossil fuel-based vehicles to electric ones.

A minister has never been called to the apex court and explain a policy vision or decision of the government, a task generally carried out by the attorney general, solicitor general or any of the additional solicitors general. But a bench of Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant said since the minister had made several statements about e-vehicles, it would be better if he came and explained.

“Could the minister come and explain the policy on introduction of e-vehicles?” the bench asked additional solicitor general Atmaram S Nadkarni. The ASG said he would convey the request to the minister.

However, Nadkarni feared that advocate Prashant Bhushan , who was arguing for expeditious conversion of public and private vehicles to electric mode from fossil fuel mode, could cross-question the minister and create an unpleasant situation.

The bench said, “We understand Bhushan to be a political person but he will not argue with the minister. If the minister has any reservations in coming to the court, then it is not a problem.”

On Bhushan’s suggestion, the bench framed four questions requiring explanation: whether all future procurement of government vehicles should be electric-run; whether charging ports should be provided in every public infrastructure/building; whether additional levy would be charged on petrol/diesel run vehicles to cross-subsidise electric vehicles; and whether all public transport should be converted to e-vehicles.

The bench said vehicular emissions had a great impact on environment, not only for the National Capital Region but for the entire country, and the issue required a focussed approach. “We consider it appropriate to consider all issues simultaneously,” it said.

On January 17, the SC had asked the Union government to detail the steps taken to implement the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan-2020, a policy decision taken in 2012 to give incentives for adoption of electric vehicles and disincentives for fossil fuel based vehicles.

Appearing for petitioner NGO ‘Centre for Public Interest Litigation’, Bhushan cited the 2015 Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India (FAME India) scheme, under which the government was to subsidise ‘initial cost of acquisition’ of electric vehicles.

The CPIL had said in its plea, “Though NEMMP-2020 called for an investment of Rs 14,500 crore from the government, as of 2018, the total budget allocation of government has been less than Rs 600 crore, showing government apathy.” It had said though NMMEP planned to adopt 7 million electric/hybrid vehicles, less than 0.3 million such vehicles had been adopted till 2018.

Given the slowdown in the auto industry, Gadkari had recently said there would be no deadline for transition to electric vehicles, or a ban on petrol and diesel-run vehicles. Responding to Niti Aayog’s draft guidelines that set a timeline for phasing out vehicles with internal combustion engines, Gadkari had said, “We will not set any deadline for electric mobility. A lot of state governments are procuring electric buses... the transition will happen as a natural process.”

