Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Tuesday observed that owning a car has increasingly become a status symbol, with people saving money to buy four-wheelers and moving away from the use of bicycles, while hearing a matter related to air pollution in the Delhi-NCR region.
The Chief Justice made the remarks during the hearing of a plea concerning deteriorating air quality, after senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi suggested that one way to address air pollution could be to curb the practice of individuals owning multiple cars.“Car has become a status symbol. People are saving money to buy cars and have stopped using cycles,” the CJI said, flagging growing obsession of people with the four wheelers.
Dwivedi also pointed out during the arguments that the automobile industry wields significant influence, making policy interventions challenging.Responding to the issue of excessive private vehicle usage, the Chief Justice remarked that responsibility for reducing pollution should also be borne by the affluent sections of society.
“The rich people should also sacrifice. Instead of going for high-end vehicles, they should go for good electric vehicles,” he said. “It is being said that heavy vehicles are contributing to it and then there is construction in NCR area. People need housing. So we have to see if construction is contributing. If CAQM wants to come now after two months, it is not possible. That is like it’s failing in its duty,” CJI Kant said.
"Heavy vehicles are contributing a large part, so the first question is how do we address that... By holding a meeting on January 2 and telling us that we will come after two months, that is not acceptable to us. The Court noted that vehicular pollution alone now contributed to nearly 40 per cent of Delhi’s air quality index (AQI) problem. The amicus pointed out that while a 2022 CAQM report had conducted an extensive exercise, its findings were never made public. The CJI said that the common perception that farmers bear the blame for poor air quality was misplaced.
The Court also criticised the CAQM for failing to publicly identify “provocative areas” responsible for the AQI decline despite receiving multiple expert reports over the years.“We don’t want credit for any ideas. We are only seeing issues which an expert body can determine. Why do they need a direction from us and why are they unable to disclose that after examining all reports, these are the most provocative areas?” it queried.
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