New Delhi, Oct 10 Presence of advocates and judicial staff is of utmost importance for the smooth functioning of courts, and they cannot be directed not to ply their non-Delhi-registered pre-BS-VI vehicles, the Delhi High Court has said.
Justice Amit Mahajan, while exempting lawyers and court staff from the three-month travel restriction imposed on non-Delhi-registered pre-BS-VI vehicles by the city administration, observed that at this stage, the authorities have not been able to point out how vehicles which were thought not contributing to pollution until October were suddenly considered as major contributors.
The order was passed on a petition by the Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA) seeking exemption for vehicles “lawfully used by advocates residing in the NCR and travelling to Delhi for bona fide professional duties”.
“Considering the difficulty expressed by the petitioner, the cars of advocates and court staff, which are holding a valid parking sticker of any of the Bar Associations in Delhi, are permitted to travel to and from Delhi, during court working days, from 01.11.2026 to 31.01.2027 on producing a valid identity card,” the court said in the order passed on November 6.
Justice Mahajan stated that the government’s notification itself provided an exemption to those performing sovereign and essential duties and assisting the court in discharge of judicial work was prima facie an essential duty, which at times, could be emergent as well.
It is not the case of the authorities that they have been providing adequate transport to advocates and the court staff for coming to courts, added the judge in the order.
The court listed the petition for hearing in January and asked the Centre and the Delhi government to file their replies.
Citing pollution concerns, the Delhi government had on June 23 decided to ban the entry of all outside motor vehicles that do not meet BS-VI emission standards into the capital from November 1 to January 31.
In the court hearing held on November 6, the DHCBA president and senior advocate N Hariharan had submitted that a large number of advocates travelled to courts in Delhi from NCR regions, which includes Gurugram, Faridabad, Noida and Ghaziabad, for performing “judicial functions”, and therefore, their non-Delhi-registered, pre-BS-VI vehicles should be exempted from the ban.
In its petition, the DHCBA has said while clean air was imperative and the State has the power to regulate vehicular emissions, advocates should be exempted from the Delhi government’s decision in the interest of administration of justice.
“Advocates timely attendance, when required by a court, serves the interests of litigants and the administration of justice. In Anita Kushwaha v. Pushap Sudan… the Supreme Court recognised access to justice as a facet of Articles 14 and 21.
“That principle makes the demonstrated effect on access to courts a relevant consideration. It does not confer a general privilege to pollute but it requires the authority to consider whether regulated access can reasonably reconcile the competing interests,” the petition has said.
(PTI News)
