Odisha HC backs govt move on no PUCC for vehicles with pending challans

Cuttack: Orissa high court on Tuesday declined to interfere with the state govt decision allowing authorities to deny Pollution Under Control Certificates (PUCC) to vehicles that have pending traffic challans, holding that such a refusal is legally valid under amended central rules.

A division bench of Chief Justice Harish Tandon and Justice M S Raman disposed of a PIL challenging the move, after the state govt justified its decision on the basis of recent amendments to the Central Motor Vehicle Rules.


The PIL, filed by Bhubaneswar resident Snigdha Patra, had sought court intervention against the refusal of Automated Pollution Testing Centres to issue PUCCs to vehicles with outstanding challans. It had also questioned the state govt’s earlier proposal to enforce a “no PUCC, no fuel” policy at petrol pumps to curb vehicular pollution.

During the hearing, advocate general Pitambar Acharya informed the court that the state had already withdrawn its directive asking oil marketing companies to deny fuel to vehicles without valid PUCCs. An affidavit to this effect had been filed earlier on Jan 27.

However, the advocate general argued that the refusal to issue PUCCs to vehicles with pending challans was permissible under Rule 167 of the Central Motor Vehicle (Third Amendment) Rules, 2026, notified on Jan 20, followed by a gazette notification on Jan 21.

Acharya submitted that the amended Rule 167 had undergone a “sea change”, explicitly empowering authorities to deny issuance of PUCCs solely on the ground of non-clearance of traffic challans.

After considering the submissions, the court accepted the state’s stand and upheld the legality of denying PUCCs to vehicles with unpaid challans, bringing the PIL to a close.