In a major interim order, the Supreme Court of India on Tuesday directed that no coercive action be taken against the owners of 10-year-old diesel vehicles and 15-year-old petrol vehicles in the Delhi-NCR region. This order gives temporary relief to a huge number of vehicle owners in the National Capital Region.
The matter was heard by a bench comprising Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai and Justices Vinod K. Chandran and N.V. Anjaria, and a notice was issued to the Central Government and the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM). The notice was in reaction to an application made by the Delhi government, challenging the decades-old restriction against older cars in the capital on the grounds of a lack of scientific rationale.
“Meanwhile, no coercive action is to be taken against the owners of the vehicle based on their being 10 years old in respect of diesel vehicles and 15 years old in respect of petrol vehicles. Put it after 4 weeks,” CJI Gavai said, quoted by Bar and Bench.
The present legal action by the Delhi government is also requesting a reversal of the Supreme Court’s own 2018 ruling, which had affirmed a 2015 order by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to ban older vehicles to reduce rampant air pollution in Delhi-NCR.
This move comes in the wake of a recent effort by the government of Delhi, under Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, to introduce a “no fuel for old vehicles” policy in July that was promptly suspended within two days amid public outcry and reported operational challenges. Later, the CAQM had issued a direction to prohibit the refueling of end-of-life vehicles in Delhi-NCR from November 1.
The Delhi government’s petition in the Supreme Court argues that age-related restrictions are not scientifically warranted and might result in mass exclusions without solving the problem of the actual emission levels of a vehicle