NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought responses of the Centre and the Uttar Pradesh government on a PIL seeking implementation of the 2024 EV charging infrastructure guidelines in housing societies.
At the outset, a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi got irked when the counsel for petitioner Rachit Katyal said that there are petitions pending over the issue and his plea be also admitted for hearing along with them.
“Why should we add one more to the list,” the CJI said and referred to some chronic PIL litigants who rush to the top court after reading newspapers.
“We are on the mushrooming growth of PIL petitions. Looks like there are some prominent faces now whose only agenda is to read the newspaper in the morning and file a PIL,” the CJI added.
The bench, however, later admitted the PIL of Katyal and issued notices to the Centre, UP, and the secretary of the Cushman and Wakefield Management Services India Pvt Ltd. It posted the plea for hearing on April 13.
The bench took cognizance of the hurdles faced by electric vehicle owners in residential complexes. Katyal, a resident of Greater Noida, approached the court after his housing society allegedly blocked his attempts to install a private EV charging point in his designated parking space, despite his offer to bear all costs.
The bench also rued the developing trend that educated and well-off voters hardly vote in comparison to uneducated and women in the elections.
The plea said the residential complex houses nearly 4,000 flats and approximately 56 electric vehicles, yet provides only two shared charging points. It said that this ratio is grossly insufficient, rendering daily commutes and vehicle maintenance nearly impossible for EV owners.
The petitioner contended that the Guidelines for Installation and Operation of EV Charging Infrastructure 2024, issued by the Ministry of Power, expressly permit residents to install private charging units.
