"The Union ministry of road transport and highways had requested the SC to transfer the cases. The high court will not decide on the matter," said a person aware of the development.
The case was transferred to the Supreme Court about a week ago. The ministry was one of the respondents. The petition filed at the had raised concerns regarding safety standards of four-wheelers weighing up to 1,500 kg. The petitioners alleged these vehicles do not meet crash-testing norms and emission standards, after which the court in June passed an interim order directing the Centre government not to let companies sell such cars in Assam.
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The state transport authorities stopped registration of new cars and sales came to a halt for almost two months, impacting leading car makers.
Assam is a small market, about two per cent of the annual national passenger vehicle sale of 2.6 million.
Maruti Suzuki sells approximately 2,200 vehicles a month, while Hyundai does 1,250. The court removed the ban on sales and registration of new cars about a month ago. Sales are on at a normal pace, said an industry executive.
The car makers, through the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, challenged the Assam state transport department's move to stop registration of new cars and contended all passenger vehicles meet crash, emission and other mandatory norms under the Motor Vehicles Act.
India, however, has a long way to go in improving safety standards of cars.
The government came up with a notification early this year mandating all to install safety features such as airbags and an anti-lock brake system in all cars by 2017 to meet the mandatory crash test requirements.
Cars of all new models will have to meet the minimum frontal and side-crash tests, as well as a pedestrian protection test from October 2017.
Prices of entry-level cars could go up by Rs 30,000 each, once these features are added.