New Delhi, Apr 22 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Tuesday expressed concern over job losses particularly of those in the automobile industry with the advent of artificial intelligence.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh was hearing a PIL seeking a direction to the Centre for faster adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) to safeguard citizens’ fundamental rights to “breathe, health, and clean environment”.

The bench asked attorney general R Venkataramani to apprise it about the Centre’s policy decisions taken from time to time for promoting of such vehicles.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL), sought the government to implement its policy on electric vehicles and create necessary infrastructure such as charging stations.

He said 14 of the 15 most polluted cities in the world were in India and there was an urgent need for the government to implement its electric vehicles policy.

When Bhushan highlighted the use of new technologies including artificial intelligence (AI) in electric vehicles, Justice Surya Kant said, “Our only worry is that with the advent of AI it should not eliminate the employment of these drivers. In India driving commercial vehicles is a big source of employment. The AI is itself developing very fast and within a month, a module becomes obsolete.” Bhushan referred to driverless Uber cabs in the US and said, “This driverless cab has now become a reality and the impact of AI is unimaginable. I have been studying this AI technology for the past couple of years and can say for sure that something is about to come up.” The top court granted four weeks time to the Venkataramani to apprise it about the initiatives of the government to promote electric vehicles and posted the hearing on May 14.

On February 19, 2020, the top court while hearing the PIL had expressed desire to interact with the transport minister Nitin Gadkari on the proposal for gradual conversion of all public transport and government vehicles into electric vehicles (EVs) to curb air pollution.

Bhushan, appearing for NGO, had argued that as per the National E-Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP), 2020 EVs were to be procured by the government. PTI MNL MNL AMK AMK