The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought a response from the Centre and the AAP government on a petition alleging that a large number of spurious CNG kits were available in the market, and that these were adding to pollution and endangering human lives.
Justice Manmohan has now issued notice to the Centre, the Delhi government, a CNG kit manufacturer and importers, and a testing agency notified by the Centre seeking replies by January 20 next year.
By-passing safety
The court was hearing a petition by the Society For Alternate Fuel and Environment (SAFE), which accused the government of adopting an easy approach towards many CNG kit manufacturers and importers who by-pass safety standards, and urged the court to recall spurious kits from across the country.
Counsel for SAFE Kapil Sankhla submitted that the manufacturers had “defrauded the government and obtained exemption from following stringent safety standards, which are mandatory for all components installed in cars as per the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, including regulators that are essential components of CNG kits installed in automobiles.
Mr. Sankhla also said that a seller of High Pressure Reducer Regulators (HPRRs) had obtained an exemption certificate from a government-notified testing agency, which granted it exemption from complying with statutory safety standards.
For ‘petty gains’
Seeking an inquiry into all such exemption certificates, the petition said, “...this is the tip of the iceberg as many similarly placed manufacturers and importers of CNG kits use the same modus operandi and have managed to short circuit the system for their nefarious purposes and petty gains...By this criminal act, the perpetrators of the unlawful acts have managed to flood the market with sub-standard and spurious CNG kits, thus, causing massive increase in pollution levels and endangering lives.”
‘Complicity of officials’
The counsel further submitted that “unlawful and illegal acts by certain unscrupulous manufacturers and importers of CNG kits brings to light the glaring corruption and inadequacies in the working of testing agencies, which are statutorily designated by the Centre, as well as complicity of officials of the governments.”
