No Action Against Owners Of Delhi’s Old Vehicles Until Next Hearing

The Supreme Court on Monday said no coercive action should be taken, for now, against owners of diesel vehicles over 10 years old and petrol vehicles over 15 years old in Delhi-NCR. The interim relief will remain in place until the court hears the matter again after four weeks. The direction came while the court was hearing the Delhi government’s plea seeking reconsideration of its 2018 order banning such vehicles in the region to curb air pollution. Appearing for the Delhi government, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the bench that the issue required reconsideration. He argued that a privately owned vehicle might be used sparingly — only a couple of thousand kilometres over several years — yet has to be sold after a decade, while a commercial vehicle used as a taxi could run two lakh kilometres in just one year but still remain on the road until it reaches the age limit.