The Supreme Court’s decision for the owners of 10 -year -old diesel vehicles and 15 -year -old petrol vehicles in the national capital Delhi has brought great relief. The court has made it clear that at present there will be no punitive action against the owners of these old vehicles. The order was pronounced by a bench of Chief Justice BR Gavai, Justice Vinod K. Chandran and Justice NV Anjaria.
No action will be taken for four weeks
The bench said in its order that no fine or action will be taken on such vehicle owners for the next four weeks, just because their diesel vehicles are 10 years old or petrol vehicle 15 years old. The court has issued a notice in this case and sought a response from the concerned parties within four weeks. After this, this matter will be heard again.
Court gives argument of vintage cars
During the hearing, Chief Justice BR Gawai said that earlier cars used to run for 40 to 50 years and still many vintage cars are present. He raised the question that is it right to consider vehicles as junk on age basis? The court indicated that the issue needs to be considered further deeply, especially when the condition of vehicles and their pollution levels may vary.
Questions raised on lack of facts
An important fact in this case also revealed that the Air Quality Management Commission (CAQM) has not yet done any study on pollution from diesel vehicles more than 10 years old and more than 15 years old petrol vehicles. In response to RTI filed by environmentalist Amit Gupta, the Commission admitted that it did not do any research on this subject. This thing was also brought to the notice of the court.
Ban on the former policy of Delhi government
The Delhi government had earlier decided to take strict measures regarding old vehicles and had asked to appeal in the court to implement this policy. But after the latest order of the Supreme Court, this policy will not be effective at the moment. Owners of old vehicles can now breathe peacefully for four weeks, while the court’s stand will decide the direction forward in the next hearing of the case.