Cuttack: The Orissa High Court on Tuesday issued notice to the state government on its decision to deny petrol and diesel to vehicles without a valid pollution under control certificate (PUCC), and sought a response on the issue within two weeks.
In its notice, the High Court directed the Transport Commissioner-cum-Chairman of the State Transport Authority (STA) to submit a detailed report on the issue within two weeks.
While hearing a PIL, a division bench of Chief Justice Harish Tandon and Justice M S Raman directed the authority to file an affidavit within 15 days explaining its stand on the notification of December 20, 2025. The matter has been posted for further hearing after three weeks.
The Public Interest Litigation (PIL), filed by a Bhubaneswar resident, challenged the legality of the STA’s directive that instructed oil marketing companies to enforce a “no PUCC, no fuel” rule at petrol pumps across the state. Advocate Ranjan Kumar Rout appeared for the petitioner.
The petitioner argued that the order is arbitrary and lacks statutory backing. Neither the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, nor the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, provides for denial of fuel supply to vehicles that do not possess a valid PUCC, it said.
The petition also submitted that such a restriction is not envisaged under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, and that fuel, being an essential commodity, cannot be withheld through executive instructions without explicit legal authority.
Defending the policy, the state government has stated that the decision was taken under Section 190(2) of the Motor Vehicles Act read with Rule 115 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, which prescribe emission standards. According to the state, plying a vehicle without a valid PUCC amounts to an offence, and the measure was introduced to ensure compliance with emission norms, curb vehicular pollution and protect public health.
The STA, in its notification, had cited widespread non-compliance with emission norms, observing that a large number of vehicles were operating without valid PUCCs, thereby aggravating environmental pollution across the state.
The policy was initially scheduled to come into force from January 1, but the government extended the deadline to February 1 following public backlash. As pollution testing centres witnessed heavy rush, the government deferred it again till March 31.
