New Delhi November 7,2013: A meeting was held under the chairmanship of Secretary (RT&H) on 1st November, 2013 at 1200 hrs to discuss the issue of COP violations by General Motors India (P) Ltd. and the Report of the 3-Member Committee headed by Shri Nitin R. Gokarn, CEO, NATRIP thereon. The officers present were- Shri Ambuj Sharma, Additional Secretary, DHI; Shri Sanjay Bandopadhyaya, Joint Secretary(Transport), MoRTH; Shri Nitin R. Gokarn, CEO & PD, NATRIP; Mr. Manik Chandra Pandit, Deputy Director (Infra), DEA; Shri Mahesh Tyagi, Deputy Legal Adviser, Department of Legal Affairs; Shri S.R. Marathe, Director, ARAI and others.
It may be recalled that the State Governments of Gujarat and Maharashtra have already been requested to take up appropriate investigation into the matter, on the basis of the statement of facts by GM India, as the acts of infringement of the regulations were stated to have taken place, at the manufacturing units in these two states. It was decided that the said two State Governments may be requested to constitute Special Investigation Teams, inter alia consisting of technical and legal experts, to conduct investigation and initiate action as soon as possible, preferably within three months. The Committee had recommended investigation by appropriate agency, because the Committee had not been able to come to specific conclusions in the absence of relevant evidences. The State Governments will also be requested to ensure that the investigation should be supervised by the Chief Secretaries, or at least by the Secretary (Home), of the States concerned to ensure that it is conducted expeditiously and effectively, but without disrupting the manufacturing activity.
It was also decided that in the interest of protection of the rights of the consumers, a meeting of the Standing Committee on Environment (SCOE) should be convened at the earliest to consider the recommendations made by the Committee regarding procedural improvements in COP testing. The SCOE recommendations should be submitted immediately thereafter for further action.
A Committee under the chairmanship of Shri Ambuj Sharma, Additional Secretary, Department of Heavy Industries, including Joint Secretary (Transport) will be set up to monitor the progress of recall and rectification of the affected vehicles within the minimum possible time. CCI Newswire
