The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday sought response from the Centre and the State to a public interest litigation petition seeking a direction to the authorities to install and ensure the functioning of electric vehicle charging stations in all fuel outlets, particularly on Madurai-Tenkasi route.A Division Bench of Justices C.V. Karthikeyan and R. Sakthivel was hearing the petition filed by A.V. Kathir of Madurai. The petitioner said in June this year he travelled from Madurai to Tenkasi with his family members in their electric vehicle. Though he found electric vehicle charging facilities installed in fuel outlets, they were not working.He said the shift towards electric vehicles was clearly visible in the official registration numbers. The fast growing group of electric vehicle users were already on the roads of India, particularly Tamil Nadu, whose ability to keep using clean vehicles depends directly on having reliable charging facilities.Referring to the State government approved Freedom Filling Station fuel outlets run by Tamil Nadu Department of Prisons and Correctional Services and the Indian Oil Corporation Limited, he said even in these outlets run by trained prison inmates there were no proper electric vehicle charging facilities.He said he had made a detailed representation to the authorities to install electric vehicle charging facilities. He sought a direction to the authorities to install and ensure the functioning of electric vehicle charging facilities at Freedom Filling Stations and all fuel outlets along the route. The court adjourned the hearing by two weeks. Published - August 04, 2026 10:59 pm IST