Properly Scrutinise Applications Seeking Permit To Ply Transport Vehicles During 'No Entry Time' In Delhi: High Court

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed that the online applications for 'no entry permits' issued to transport vehicles plying in no entry time must be scrutinised and the documents enclosed with such applications must be verified properly.

No-Entry Permits are issued to the transport vehicles for plying in the national capital during No-Entry time for transport of Essential goods or commodities.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela directed the concerned authorities to verify such applications and documents before taking a decision to issue entry permits to the vehicles in the national capital.

The Court disposed of a public interest litigation filed by one Nishant Gulati, represented by Advocate Aditya Kadian.

The plea raised three concerns regarding road safety- first, transport mafia prevailing in the national capital; second, overloaded and over heighted transport vehicles and third, misuse of no entry permits issued to transport vehicles.

The counsel for the Union Government took the Court's attention to a standing order issued by the Delhi Police wherein directions were issued to all concerned authorities for taking appropriate action against violations of traffic Rules and also for identifying group nexus of touts and other unscrupulous elements who provide stickers to vehicles as immunity against violation of the Rules.

The standing order also directed that special drives at various intervals be conducted against such vehicles and that while prosecuting them, stickers affixed on the vehicles must be destroyed. The standing order also directs that action be taken against any who indulge in any irregular acts.

Disposing of the plea, the Court noted that the standing order issued on March 21 broadly takes care of the concerns raised in the PIL. However, it said that the problem lies in non effective implementation of the directions mentioned in the standing order.

“Accordingly, we direct that all the directions issued in the standing order shall be strictly complied with and any violation shall be viewed by the authorities seriously as already prohibited in the standing order. Any [erring] officials maybe visited with disciplinary action in appropriate cases,” the Court said.

Kadian then said that even though the process of obtaining no entry permits has been made online, but permissions are being granted without verification of the applications and documents enclosed with it. He thus prayed that the process be made physical.

On this, the Court refused to accept the said prayer, noting that there is a need of technological driven processes.

“However, it is also equally relevant to point out that any such application made online needs to be scrutinised and the documents enclosed with it are also need to be verified,” the Court said.

“We thus direct that while processing the applications seeking no entry permits, upon relevant information being furnished by the applicant, the application shall be scrutinised and documents filed shall be verified before any decision to issue no entry permit is taken. The petition is disposed of in the aforesaid terms,” it added.

Title: Nishant Gulati v. Govt. of NCT of Delhi & Ors. 

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Del) 635