Old, polluting vehicles are on their way out Transport minister Subhas Chakraborty on Monday expressed surprise at the high court order to phase out 15-year-old commercial vehicles but added his government would implement the directive. "I have heard about the high court order banning 15-year-old commercial vehicles though I am yet to go through it. In 2006, we had asked for a ban on commercial vehicles that were 25 years old. The court had turned down our plea but has now issued this order. I am amazed at the varying stands taken by the judiciary and wonder how laws are being implemented by court. But we will carry out the directive,' Chakraborty said. On July 18, a high court division bench headed by Chief Justice S.S. Nijjar had put its seal of approval on an environment department notification calling for phasing out of 15-year-old commercial vehicles in the Calcutta Metropolitan Area from March 31, 2009. The court had also approved the department's recommendations for banning unauthorised autorickshaws in the state. Asked whether the court had kept his department in the dark, Chakraborty shot back: "It appears the judiciary is running a parallel government... The judges' duty is to interpret laws and issue orders. Let's see how far they can go.' The minister spoke little on how his government plans to initiate measures for phasing out old commercial vehicles. When asked about the monitoring committee the state government has been asked to set up, Chakraborty said: "As far as I know, the court order does not specify what the transport department's role would be in implementing the order. I don't know whether transport department representatives would be part of the committee. As of now, I have no idea how to implement the order.' The minister denied that there was any lack of coordination between his department and the environment department, which was a respondent to the case moved by green activist Subhas Dutta. "I haven't heard about any coordination problems between the two departments. The environment department is doing its job and we are doing ours,' he said.