[chintu_91]

Whatever be the proceedings of this particular case, the judiciary will give a fair judgement, one thing I now believe is that the safety norms for the cars will be revised.
The respective authorities will now have to be on their toes and work their skins off to find a perfect balance for manufacturers (read foreign investments, jobs, etc etc ) as well as the CUSTOMERS SAFETY. They can and should provide ideal platforms and resources to the manufacturers but not at the cost of safer cars.

[ssambyal1980]

Its pretty strange that the ban is being imposed at state level on vehicles regarding which the central government has no issue at all. Nonetheless its a step in the right direction for a country with highest number of road mishap fatalities in the world.

The cars being sold nowadays come with powerful, high performance engines, coupled with that the road network has also improved a lot in past one decade, as such the average speed of driving has increased considerably, which calls in for the implementation of stricter safety norms by the automobile manufacturers. It's high time that safety accessories (air bags, abs, ebs etc) become standard features on all the passenger cars being sold in India.

There is no doubt about the fact that with India having huge automobile market potential, the car manufacturers have reaped in huge profits in last couple of years by recording high sales. Hence now there are no takers for their very plea that in small car segment the costing scores over the implementation of safety standards. With huge revenues at their disposal, they can easily bring in the safety standards in all the cars they make, irrespective of the segment and that won't cost them too much.

With the ruling central government proposing of bringing in sea changes in the transportation sector, it should take strong notice of this very important issue and the first step in that direction would be to ensure that all the passenger vehicles come equipped with the highest level of safety features as a basic standard.

[kaushik_s]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

Well said. Does this mean that the court certifies all other cars not on the 'banned' list to be safe? What if they are not - will the court pay for any damage sustained while travelling in a vehicle that is not banned?

Have you guys not read the judgement in it's actual form and still talking about "lists" of cars? There is no list with particular names but it's a stay order on any sale or release of cars without going thru crash tests.

This is a meaningless judgement like the sun control film ban.

Care to explain why is it meaningless and how can you even compare with the sunfilm judgement? Are the lives of people of India is less important than the people in other countries? Why such norm hasn't yet been put into place. Why have our government have let the auto manufacturing companies to launch unsafe vehicles in India?


Mods, please update the thread title as it's misleading.

EDIT: For pete's sake, please read the actual judgement, I'm posting it here again http://ghconline.gov.in/General/Noti...26-06-2015.pdf
Also, read this story which have actually been reported in a much better way, http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...w/47859958.cms

[sourabhzen]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

Well said. Does this mean that the court certifies all other cars not on the 'banned' list to be safe? What if they are not - will the court pay for any damage sustained while travelling in a vehicle that is not banned?

Exactly! Moreover, which competent authority did the court consulted before banning these cars? Were they given any notice? And why only these cars? Does this mean that every other vehicle is safe to travel?

Originally Posted by ssambyal1980

Its pretty strange that the ban is being imposed at state level on vehicles regarding which the central government has no issue at all. Nonetheless its a step in the right direction for a country with highest number of road mishap fatalities in the world.

With the ruling central government proposing of bringing in sea changes in the transportation sector, it should take strong notice of this very important issue and the first step in that direction would be to ensure that all the passenger vehicles come equipped with the highest level of safety features as a basic standard.

What is the percentage of car passengers in the total road mishap fatalities?

This is the job of Central Government (and is long overdue), not the courts. Courts decides if a law is violated, they do not make laws.

[Rover2000]

Originally Posted by kat

Nice verdict. So, "safer" cars like Datsun Go are allowed to sell, but not the Jazz. I don't understand.

The title of this thread itself is misleading. The interim order is applicable to Four wheelers and Quadricycles with a mass up to 1500kgs. Datsun go is also one of them. The order affects close to 140 models(including variants). This was clarified to me by a lawyer friend.

I do not see why some of us are worked up against this order. This is a positive move to make the cars we drive much safer Pan India.

[ssambyal1980]

Originally Posted by sourabhzen

This is the job of Central Government (and is long overdue), not the courts. Courts decides if a law is violated, they do not make laws.

Exactly, couldn't agree more with you. Nonetheless in a democracy both the judiciary and the executive compliment each other.

[apachelongbow]

Judiciary's work is to interpret existing laws and ensure they are enforced; arbitrating disputes which arise.

Where has it been written that the judiciary can create new laws?

[Doge]

This is absolutely stupid. So all small cars are banned in Assam? The cheapest car one can buy now is the probably the Bolero or Sumo,far from anything close to safe.

[globemaster]

Awesome Move Assam!

However as many of us rightly pointed out, why do we need a court to decide this when we have ARAI and other institutions who are actually responsbile to test a car before approving the sale countrywide?

Also banning unsafe cars in Assam only is not going to help. It will only be effective when all states (atleast the high courts of all states) join in.

Eagerly looking forward to the days when a manufacturer cannot show off "ABS" and "Airbags" as a feature and charge extra moolah for it.

[RavSam]

I think most of the people here are just reading the title and commenting fast and furiously.

Please take pains going through the information and previous posts and then take out you frustration against it!

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by kaushik_s

Have you guys not read the judgement in it's actual form and still talking about "lists" of cars? There is no list with particular names but it's a stay order on any sale or release of cars without going thru crash tests.

The whole complaint (PIL filed by Rita Das Mazumdar who is also a member of the Guwahati High Court Bar Association) is based on the fact that EURO NCAP conducted 'voluntary' tests on certain vehicles sold in India which many failed.

Why does the High Court act upon the results of an unsolicited test conducted in another country? Why does it not direct the government to speed up the process of establishing a proper testing regime in the country? A direction from the Hon HC will be binding on the government to follow up and act upon.

We have had a discussion on the topic when the crash tests were publicised - will NCAP tests be 'free' when the manufacturers rectify the issues raised? Obviously not - they will be expected to pay for it.

The country needs its own testing process and the government had been in the process of formulating the same when NCAP suddenly jumped in with voluntary tests.

Vehicle testing and certification is obviously a remunerative business and not something done for free. I have stated this before and will state it again - the 'tests' conducted by NCAP was effectively a business promotion activity.

The noise over the voluntary tests died down sometime back. Now this PIL has brought NCAP back into the reckoning again.

People may call it a conspiracy theory or whatever, but I do not believe that actions like these happen without a good commercial reason. In my personal opinion the series of events triggered by the NCAP tests are carefully orchestrated to force the hand of the government to abandon the establishment of a separate testing regime and rely on Euro NCAP instead. Of course this is an opinion with nothing to back it up other than common sense.

Do we need more safety - definitely, and no one denies it. Is this the way to go about it - I think not.

[Lalvaz]

Originally Posted by apachelongbow

Judiciary's work is to interpret existing laws and ensure they are enforced; arbitrating disputes which arise.

Where has it been written that the judiciary can create new laws?

You're wrong, Judiciary can create new laws. Quoting from:
http://www.britannica.com/topic/court-law

"Judicial lawmaking
All courts apply preexisting rules (statutes) formulated by legislative bodies, though the procedures vary greatly between common-law and civil-law countries. In applying these rules, however, courts must also interpret them, typically transforming the rules from generalities to specifics and sometimes filling gaps to cover situations never addressed by lawmakers when the legislation was first drafted. As courts decide disputes in individual cases, they create an important by-product beyond peaceful settlements—that is, they develop rules for deciding future cases. The judicial decisions embodying these interpretations then become controlling for future cases, sometimes to the extent that they virtually supplant the legislative enactments themselves. In common-law systems, such decisions are called precedents, and they are rules and policies with just as much authority as a law passed by a legislature. Thus, law is made not only by legislatures but also by the courts."

By the way, is'nt this a good judgement, one that ensures transparency and higher standards for consumer safety and rights. Why are so many people upset about this order?

[Rover2000]

What do we mean by Indian standards ? More so often this is referred to as a lower standard. It is high time we change and change for good. "India" is global and we should have global standards. This is the right move going forward.

Also as a fellow member pointed out, The Hon Judiciary has all the rights in the law to reform and transform rules to specific cases. Whether this will hold in Supreme court is a different proposition again.

[pawarsw]

This is really a right step taken by court.
In India many peoples die in the accidents due to inadequate safety of their car. Even lots of car users are not aware how a safe car can save them in crashes.

Safety norms in India are totally outdated, and the committed date for new norms is also planned in 2017. Court is only taking action because of the PIL raised by responsible citizens in Assam. If the people in India raise their voice then manufacturer is oblique to provide safer cars in India also.
In our nation banning is the only way to keep customer away from wrong products. I know manufactures will go to supreme court but still this ban will be consider as first step in right direction.

[Swapnil4585]

Whether the Assam High Court was correct in banning the release and sale of small 4 wheeler cars and quadri-cycles of mass up to 1500 kilograms in the State of Assam, is a matter of another debate. I think that the Hon Court was made aware of the State's inaction on the issue vide the Public Interest Litigation, and hence it stepped in and directed the Central Government to not to release and sell the concerned class of vehicles. The aggrieved parties will move up the Higher Court and may get this directive, quashed. Just a matter of time.

However, this Order should be looked upon as an attempt in accelerating all the efforts of creating awareness among buyers about safety and safe driving. The need of time is to create awareness among buyers about demanding a structurally sturdy car, and this Order is a welcome move in that direction. If buyers from other States read about this news and thereby avoid buying the cars named in the thread, then the manufacturer(s) will be automatically compelled to produce safety standards compliant cars.