Supreme Court set to ban luxury diesel SUVs in Delhi

Order likely today; curbs for 3 months

Observing that rich people cannot go around in luxury cars and pollute the environment, the Supreme Court on Tuesday indicated it will pass orders on Wednesday to ban the registration of diesel luxury sedans and SUVs in Delhi to curb the city’s rapidly escalating air pollution.

A three-judge bench of Chief Justice T.S. Thakur and Justices A.K. Sikri and R. Banumathi made it clear that to begin with, these luxury cars of over 2000cc will not be allowed to be registered for three months. Noting that every citizen in Delhi must contribute to bringing down pollution levels, the bench refused to buy the argument that the auto industry will collapse and car dealers will face hardship.

“When people’s lives are at stake, you are interested in your business of selling cars” the CJI told senior counsel Dushyant Dave, who argued that banning diesel vehicles was not the correct solution.

Earlier, senior counsel and amicus curiae Harish Salve submitted a note to the court seeking urgent orders on a series of issues, saying that pollution levels in Delhi in the winter gets worse when the wind remains calm and traps the partuculate matter due to inversion and keeps it closer to the ground level.

He highlighted several issues, including the need to direct that all taxis be converted to CNG; that the environment compensatory surcharge be doubled to prevent vehicles passing through Delhi from entering the city; to divert vehicles not headed for Delhi to take alternate routes; all commercial vehicles registered before 2005 that do not comply with Euro-4 norms must not be allowed to enter the city; no burning of trash and solid waste and ban on registration of luxury diesel cars and SUVs for three months. The CJI told him that detailed orders would be issued on Wednesday on all these matters.

Earlier, in the course of arguments, the bench asked the Centre and Delhi government to come out with solutions to clean Delhi’s air. The CJI said: “You formulate norms, prescribe the regime. Why don’t you do it Take credit for cleaning Delhi. Why do you let the opportunity go by ”

On the Delhi government’s plan to allow cars with odd and even registration numbers on alternate days from January 1 to check pollution, the bench said it wasn’t sure if it would help. “You can implement it if it’s going to help. We haven’t stopped you.” It said it was for the Delhi government to determine if it the plan will work or not.

The court also directed the authorities to ensure that only CNG taxis run in Delhi and Euro 4-ready fuel was made available in Delhi and on national highways to promote Euro-4 vehicles. Also, proper arrangement must be made at construction sites to control pollution caused by dust, the bench said.

Mr Salve, giving an overview of the alarming situation, said around 23 per cent of cars registered in Delhi ran on diesel. Diesel cars can legally emit 7.5 times more particulate matter than petrol versions and produce more toxic nitrogen dioxide. Diesel emissions are also cancer causing, according to the World Health Organisation, he pointed out. Since 2000, the number of vehicles in Delhi has increased by 97 per cent. Delhi has 8.5 million vehicles; in comparison New York has only 7.7 million vehicles. Diesel cars in Delhi have increased by 30 per cent, and Euro-6 emission norms were vitally needed, he added. The Chief Justice then quipped that “petrol pumpwallahs put kerosene, and our cars are so versatile (that they) accept it”.