The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a plea seeking exemption for BS-VI compliant vehicles from the age-based fuel and scrap ban in Delhi-NCR. The petition argues such vehicles should operate beyond the 10- and 15-year limits set by earlier NGT and SC orders. The court will hear the matter next Monday amid ongoing policy confusion.
Representational Image. File Pic
Amid the concerning policies related to the fuel ban and vehicle scrap policy in Delhi, the Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear an application seeking to allow vehicles meeting the BS-VI emission standards to operate in the Delhi-NCR instead of a blanket age-based ban on vehicles.
As reported by news agency ANI, a bench of Chief Justice of India BR Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran agreed to examine whether BS-VI compliant vehicles should have an end-of-life period of 15 years for petrol vehicles and 10 years for diesel vehicles in the NCR.
While considering the BS-VI end-of-life argument, the bench posted the matter for hearing next Monday, after an advocate mentioned the application for urgent listing.
The advocate stated that a direction from the Supreme Court is necessary to permit such vehicles to continue operating even after their life term has expired, as these periods were established by the court itself, as per the news agency ANI.
The advocate further asserted that the government can't alter or modify it, given the apex court orders relating to curbing pollution.
He also highlighted that earlier in 2015, the National Green Tribunal directed that diesel vehicles older than 10 years and petrol vehicles older than 15 years should no longer be allowed to operate in Delhi NCR to combat pollution.
Following up on that, the Supreme Court of India in 2018 upheld the directions of the National Green Tribunal on this matter.
In accordance with the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) mandate, the Delhi government has recently instituted the policy of "No fuel for 15-year-old petrol and 10-year-old diesel vehicles," effective July 1, 2025.
Nevertheless, the city government suspended the project within two days of its implementation, citing "operational and infrastructural challenges" as the cause for the public outcry.
Earlier, days after the scrappage policy on older vehicles in Delhi, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday clarified that the government has not prohibited the plying of old vehicles.
Nitin Gadkari further asserted that it was the National Green Tribunal that banned the use of diesel and petrol vehicles beyond a certain age in the NCR.
(With inputs from ANI)
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