The ban on plying of e-rickshaws in the national capital will continue for a week as the Delhi High Court on Thursday refused to pass any interim order to permit their operation till 28 August, saying ‘we have to be clear about what we are doing, can’t do it just like that’.
A bench of justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Siddharth Mridul made the observation while refusing the Centre’s plea that e-rickshaws be allowed to ply on the basis of the interim guidelines devised by ministry of road transport and highways, and listed the matter for further hearing on 28 August. The bench also suggested to the Centre, represented by Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Pinky Anand, that ‘if there is a gap in the law, then the executive can act and fill it up.’
‘Why should we direct you? You do it. Fill up the vacuum with executive order. Where Legislature has acted and there is a law (Motor Vehicles Act), if there is any gap in the law the Executive can act and fill it up,’ the bench said. The court also observed that according to the Supreme Court’s Vishaka judgment, the Executive has the power to fill the vacuum in the absence of suitable legislation. The ASG, however, wanted directions from the court to the Centre to fill up the ‘vacuum’.
A bench of justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Siddharth Mridul made the observation while refusing the Centre’s plea that e-rickshaws be allowed to ply on the basis of the interim guidelines devised by ministry of road transport and highways, and listed the matter for further hearing on 28 August. The bench also suggested to the Centre, represented by Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Pinky Anand, that ‘if there is a gap in the law, then the executive can act and fill it up.’
‘Why should we direct you? You do it. Fill up the vacuum with executive order. Where Legislature has acted and there is a law (Motor Vehicles Act), if there is any gap in the law the Executive can act and fill it up,’ the bench said. The court also observed that according to the Supreme Court’s Vishaka judgment, the Executive has the power to fill the vacuum in the absence of suitable legislation. The ASG, however, wanted directions from the court to the Centre to fill up the ‘vacuum’.