SC to consider pleas against diesel vehicle ban today

The Supreme Court will on Thursday consider extending the deadline for its December order on banning registration of diesel vehicles with engine capacity of 2000cc or above in Delhi and the other NCR towns.

The Supreme Court will on Thursday consider extending the deadline for its December order on banning registration of diesel vehicles with engine capacity of 2000cc or above in Delhi and the other NCR towns.

The applicants demanding the extension include car manufacturers such as Mercedes Benz, General Motors and Toyota. They have requested the court to relax the conditions saying the new car models comply with the latest emission norms (Sonu Mehta/ Hindustan Times)

The ban was supposed to come into effect from April 1.

The special bench headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur will also take up applications asking the court to modify the December 16, 2015, ruling. The applicants demanding the extension include car manufacturers such as Mercedes Benz, General Motors and Toyota. They have requested the court to relax the conditions saying the new car models comply with the latest emission norms.

The SC order said: “The rich won’t be allowed to buy luxury cars and pollute the environment.” The order issued to clean the air in Delhi – world’s most polluted city – included a ban on the entry of non-Delhi bound trucks and those registered before 2005 into the Capital. It directed the taxi aggregators such as Ola and Uber to convert from diesel to CNG by March 31, 2016.

The ban had hit luxury car manufacturers since most of their sales come from diesel vehicles and Delhi is a crucial market for them.

The order affected sales of over 60 car models from different manufacturers.

Even if the plea to modify the ban order is accepted, the bench is likely to impose a one-time environment compensation on purchase of new diesel cars of any variant.

The SC will also take up private diesel taxi owners’ petition asking the court to relax the deadline for them to convert their vehicles to CNG.

The application of the Special Protection Group, complaining the ban had stalled procurement of cars/SUVs, will also be heard.

SPG has said it needs the diesel-run SUVs as escort vehicles for its protectees, which include the Prime Minister, former PMs and their immediate family.