The Supreme Court Thursday extended until further orders its ban on the registration of diesel luxury sedans and SUVs above 2000cc in the Delhi-NCR region to curb air pollution. It also extended till April 30 the deadline for converting diesel taxis to CNG.
With major carmakers strongly urging lifting of the ban, the court made it clear the ban will continue if they cannot pay the environment compensation cess and oppose such a levy.
The court, however, exempted high-security cars of the Special Protection Group from the diesel ban, but said that 30 per cent of the cost of such vehicles must be paid as environment cess before registration.
Earlier, the amicus curiae told a three-judge bench of Chief Justice T.S. Thakur and Justices A.K. Sikri and R. Banumathi around 400,000 trucks were diverted by the Haryana government at different entry points from entering Delhi and '152 crores had been collected as environment cess.
As the earlier orders had helped bring down pollution level in the city, the ban on diesel SUVs should continue, it was submitted.
Senior counsel Gopal Subramanium, appearing for Mercedes Benz, sought lifting of the registration ban saying all Mercedes cars were over 2000cc and they all strictly complied with emission norms. Other major carmakers contended the pollution caused by diesel vehicles was less than 0.004 per cent and there was no basis to assume diesel vehicles are the cause for pollution.
The CJI told the counsel: “You are selling luxury cars like Mercedes. How many of you can afford Only the super-rich can afford. Why should you pollute and make the lives of other people miserable We will continue the ban for six months or till you agree for a 30 per cent levy of EC surcharge. When a person purchasing a diesel vehicle must know he is causing pollution and must pay for it.”
Former Union finance minister and senior counsel P. Chidambaram, appearing for Maruti, urged the court not to pass any order levying ECC when the economy is slow and sluggish. He wanted the court to take into account other factors like what would happen to the economy, to employment generation, before any order is passed. To this, the CJI told Mr Chidambaram: “We are conscious of the fact this order is going to affect the economy. What we are doing is in the public interest. This order may be extended to other cities too.” The bench, however, agreed to hear all car manufacturers and asked them to give a consolidated view of what is acceptable and what is not acceptable to them so that the court can consider all issues before passing any order. The court also said this hearing can take place only on a Saturday (court holiday) as the judges were sitting in different combinations and it would be difficult to hear the case on a regular working day.
The amicus curiae, in his report, highlighted key issues, including the need to direct that all taxis be converted to CNG; the environment compensatory surcharge should be doubled to prevent vehicles passing through Delhi from entering the nation’s capital; to divert vehicles not meant for Delhi to alternate routes; that all commercial vehicles registered before 2005 that do not comply with Euro-4 norms not be allowed to enter the city. She said the night pollution in the city had reduced. The measures directed by the Supreme Court for reducing pollution in the NCR had helped minimise pollution levels, it was pointed out.
