Supreme Court Shuts Down PIL On Ethanol-Free Petrol

Supreme Court of India has dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) that questioned the Govt’s decision of not providing E10 or ethanol-free fuels for older cars running on Indian roads. The PIL, filed by Akshay Malhotra, an advocate, had challenged the Union Government’s Ethanol blending program and sought to make an ethanol-free petrol option available for consumers.

Arguing for the petitioner, Senior Advocate Shadan Farasat said, "Now, there are vehicles being manufactured compatible with E20 petrol, there is no difficulty on that. But the largest number of vehicles have not been manufactured for that. NITI Aayog report says that vehicles are being damaged. Let E20 be there, we are not against that. But there should be a choice of what was available previously as well, and inform the consumer.”

Also Read: Ethanol Blending: SIAM Assures Warranties Of Non-E20 Compliant Vehicles Will Be Honoured

Opposing the plea, India’s Attorney General, R Venkatramani said that the 

Government has considered everything before the proposal alleging that there’s a lobby working behind such demands. The plea had mentioned that usage of E20 petrol in non-compliant vehicles will result in damages which will not be covered by manufacturers or insurance companies. In the recent few weeks, Govt has been listing out advantages of using E20 Petrol like increasing farmer incomes and reduced import bills.