Delhi government’s order, which suspended the subsidy on offer to Tata Motor’s range of Nexon electric vehicles on account of several complaints of below par performance, has been stayed by the Delhi High Court in an order passed by hon’ble justice Sanjeev Sachdeva. The order brings interim relief to Tata Motors with a stay having been directed against delisting of Nexon EV from the state government’s list of eligible vehicles. As per justice Sachdeva, the officer responsible for passing the subsidy suspension order failed to offer any evidence to demonstrate that the vehicle was unable to meet the speed of 140 km/ electric charge.

Justice Sachdeva also stated in his order that Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), Pune, which is a statutory body affiliated to the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, had certified Nexon EV following verification of its claim of a 312 km range on a single battery charge. Tata Motors filed an application for subsidy subsequent to receipt of such clearance from ARAI. “Taking from any angle, the complaint does not suggest that the minimum range of 140km per charge was not met“, said justice Sachdeva, as the complaint itself mentioned that Nexon EV had managed to reach a speed of 200 km on a single battery charge, a speed significantly beyond the eligibility benchmark of 140 km.

It was also observed by justice Sachdeva that a vehicle’s performance is dependant on its driving conditions, driving capabilities, and traffic conditions. He mentioned that as per ARAI’s certificate, the testing parameters differ from the actual driving conditions and that Tata Motors will be greatly prejudiced, prima facie, if a stay order was not passed in their favour.

Tata Motors was represented by Senior Advocates, Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Mr. Rajiv Nayar & Mr. Gopal Jain, along with Advocates, Ms. Nandini Gore, Mr Amit Bhandari, Ms. Natasha Sahrawat & Mr. Raghvendra Pratap Singh.

Government of NCT of Delhi was represented by Standing Counsel, Mr. Ramesh Singh.

Deputy Commissioner (OP-I) Government of NCT of Delhi was represented by Additional Solicitor General, Mr. Chetan Sharma, along with Advocates, Mr. Sameer Vashisht, Mr. Amit Gupta, Mr. Akshay Gadeock, Mr. Sahaj Garg, Mr. R. Venkat Prabhat & Mr. Manashwy Jha.