"Supreme Court Permits Appeal Against Delhi-NCR Ban on Older Diesel & Petrol Vehicles"
On Friday, October 25, the Supreme Court allowed a person to raise concerns with the Delhi Government about the ban on diesel vehicles older than 10 years and petrol vehicles older than 15 years in the Delhi NCR region. The applicant, challenging the ban, argued that it shouldn’t apply to vehicles bought before April 7, 2015, which is when the National Green Tribunal (NGT) first issued an order about this policy. The Court allowed the applicant to file a representation with the Delhi Government on whether the ban should be applied only moving forward, not backward. If the government’s decision is unfavorable, the applicant can challenge it through legal channels. A bench of Justices Abhay S. Oka and Augustine George Masih heard this request as part of an ongoing pollution case in Delhi NCR, known as the MC Mehta case. The applicant requested that the ban apply only to future vehicle purchases. Senior Advocate Aparajitha Singh, representing the NGT’s view, said that the tribunal’s order for the ban has already been supported by the Supreme Court. However, Justice Oka noted that this specific hearing cannot decide if the ban applies to past purchases or only future ones, suggesting a separate case would be needed to address that question. The applicant, Nagalakshmi Laxmi Narayanan, owner of a 2014 Audi diesel vehicle, argued that the scrappage policy unfairly forces owners to get rid of vehicles without considering their condition or emissions. Her car, which has a registration valid until December 2029, would be banned in Delhi from December 2024 due to the policy. The applicant also argued that the policy hits middle- and lower-income groups the hardest, as replacing vehicles prematurely is costly. Additionally, she pointed out that newer emission testing could assess actual emissions rather than banning vehicles just by age. Case Title – Nagalakshmi Laxmi Narayanan v. Union of India in MC Mehta v. Union of India www.legalmeet.in