Odd-even scheme to go on till January 15

The Delhi High Court on Monday refused to interfere with AAP government’s odd-even vehicles policy to control rising air pollution in the city, observing that restrictions under the scheme were only till January 15. The court, however, directed the government to take into consideration the contents of the petitions, which had challenged the government’s scheme, before taking any further action. A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath said, though the implementation of the scheme may have caused hardship to a section of society, “power of judicial review cannot be extended to determine correctness of such policy decision”. 

The court also said in its 12-page order, “Since, the policy decisions are taken based on expert knowledge of person concerned, courts are normally not equipped to question the correctness of a policy decision,” the bench said. 

The high court had earlier questioned the impact of the odd-even operation on pollution and asked the AAP government to consider restricting the programme, slated for a fortnight till January 15, to a week. Defending the scheme, the government had said it aimed at reducing congestion on the capital’s roads that has further contributed towards lowering of pollution.