Moving a plea in the Calcutta High Court on Friday, the counsel of the syndicate said that the state government cannot fix the life of a vehicle and hence has no authority to issue a notification banning the 15-year-old buses from plying.

Advocate Swapan Dutta contended that the Motor Vehicles Act framed by the Centre has not fixed the life of vehicles and since the state government’s Motor Vehicles Amendment Rule, 2005 was framed as per the Centre’s Act so the state government is in no position to ban the buses from plying. He then added that May 24, 2005 notification issued by the state government was beyond its jurisdiction.

A Division Bench comprising Justices Pratap Kumar Roy and Manik Mohan Sarkar was hearing arguments in a case filed by the state government against March 16, 2006 order issued by the High Court cancelling the state transport department’s May 2005 notification.

The case dates back to 2005 when the department had imposed restrictions on issuing permit to 15-year-old public transport vehicles like bus, mini bus, taxi and trucks citing threat to the environment. The notification came into effect from December 31, 2005.