New Delhi: The Delhi government on Thursday admitted before the High Court that 826 Blueline buses in the city had been found with tampered speed governors and only nine of them had been booked for speeding this year.
Bluelines have killed 96 people this year alone. Government lawyer Mukta Gupta told a bench comprising Justices Mukul Mudgal and Reva Khetrapal that 25 bus drivers have been prosecuted for drunken driving this year.
She said 826 buses were found running with tampered speed governors between January 1 and October 9. The court expressed shock at the government’s statements, saying: "It means almost all the buses. What kind of certificates are issued by you to them?"
The court ordered that buses involved in fatal accidents or those that had caused serious injury would be released only if it permitted. "This is sufficient warning for them. Now we will pinch the bus owners also," the court said adding the owner of the bus has to pay a heavy penalty before getting his bus involved in fatal accident, released from the court.
The government also told the court it would found out by November 26 who own the buses, but sources tell CNN-IBN permits issued to half of the buses couldn't be traced to their address provided.
The government, which gave the court a status report on what it has done to control the buses, sought time till November 15 to frame a plan to phase out the Bluelines.
The court pulled up the government after a Blueline killed seven persons in Badarpur on Sunday and asked it to phase out Bluelines as early as possible.
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