SC extends registration ban on big-engine diesel vehicles

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday maintained a ban on large diesel cars in the national capital region till further orders to clean up its filthy air, while indicating that it will impose a tax on the purchase of high-end vehicles running on the “polluting fuel”.

The court also pushed by a month a March 31 deadline for private taxi operators in the area, including Ola and Uber, to shift from diesel to compressed natural gas, offering respite to hundreds of drivers from small towns and villages who failed to make the switch.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur told automobile majors such as Mercedes, Toyota, Mahindra and General Motors that it is inclined to modify the ban and let all cars get registered, but at a higher price.

“We want your cooperation to clean this city. It is your city too,” the court told lawyers representing the companies. “People who buy diesel cars knowing they pollute more should be ready to pay compensatory charges.”

The Wo rl d Health Organization says diesel fumes can cause cancer and belong in the same potentially deadly category as asbestos, arsenic and secondhand cigarette smoke. “Why should someone, having power to purchase a polluting vehicle, be allowed to make the life of others miserable? Let them pay a cost for it since they can afford it,” the bench said.

The SC gave time to the companies to come back with their views on the cess and said it will fix a Saturday to hear the matter, a first in the top court’s history.

Delhi has 8.5 million vehicles — up 97% from 2000 — and adds 1,400 new cars to its streets every day, contributing to a hazardous blanket of smog that intensifies during the winter months, triggering a slew of respiratory and life-threatening diseases.

When a counsel sought relief on the registration of trucks in NCR, the bench said, “No trucks will be registered as the city is already choked… Heavens will not fall if trucks are not registered.”