Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Aug 12: Providing a major relief to the owners old cars in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR), the Supreme Court on Tuesday directed that no coercive action will be taken against the owners of 10-year old diesel vehicles and 15-year old petrol vehicles in Delhi.
The matter was heard by a bench led by Chief Justice of India BR Gavai and comprising Justices Vinod K Chandran and NV Anjaria and issued the notice on Delhi government’s application challenging the ban on diesel and petrol vehicles in the capital after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta mentioned the petition by the Delhi government.
“In the meantime no coercive steps to be taken against the owners of the car on the ground that they are 10 years old in respect to diesel vehicles and 15 years old with respect to petrol vehicles. List it after 4 weeks,” CJI Gavai order stated.
The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), which is a central anti-pollution panel for Delhi and neighbouring states, had ordered in July that fuel supply be stopped to vehicles that fall under the “end-of-life” category. Vehicles older than the number of years mentioned in the order were also supposed to be scrapped in keeping with a Supreme Court order from 2018.
Following a backlash and intervention by the Delhi government, the CAQM order was deferred till November 1. The bench also issued a notice to the Centre and CAQM. “Issue notice, returnable in four weeks. In the meantime, we direct that no coercive steps be taken against the owners on the ground that vehicles are 10 years old in respect of diesel vehicles and 15 years old in respect of petrol vehicles,” the bench said.
When the petition had been filed, Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa had said the situation had changed significantly since 2018. “The situation of 2025 is totally different from 2018, and there are many modern technologies available now. We want to apprise the honourable court, and that’s why we have filed the review,” Mr Sirsa said. “If a vehicle is polluting, it should be banned, regardless of whether it’s five years old or fifteen. Pollution should be the criterion, not the age of the vehicle,” he added.
Mr Sirsa welcomed the SC decision and said the directive comes as a “big relief for residents of Delhi.” “The Delhi government had filed a plea before the Supreme Court, arguing that the ‘end of life’ for a vehicle should be determined not by its age, but by the pollution it emits and the number of kilometres it has run,” he added further.
The Delhi government has petitioned the court to review the ban on end-of-life vehicles, arguing it unfairly impacts the middle class without scientific backing. The plea follows criticism of the directive by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) and highlights advancements in pollution control technology.
At the core of the issue is the decade-old policy prohibiting diesel vehicles older than 10 years and petrol vehicles over 15 years from plying on the roads. The petition raises a key concern: should the end-of-life policy be determined by the age of the vehicle alone, or should emission levels and technological compliance – particularly Bharat Stage VI standards – be the decisive factors?
In July, the Delhi government, led by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta rolled out the “no fuel for old vehicles” policy. However, due to public backlash, the policy was paused within 2 days of its announcement. The government cited logistical hurdles and infrastructure gaps to enforce the ban effectively. Following this, CAQM issued a directive to enforce a ban refuelling for end-of-life vehicles across Delhi-NCR from November 1.
This ban was then challenged by the Delhi government before the Supreme Court, citing that the restrictions lacked scientific backing. The NCT government’s petition also seeks a review of the 2018 order passed by the Supreme Court which banned 10-year-old diesel and 15-year-old petrol vehicles in Delhi-NCR.
The ban on old vehicles dates back to 2015 after the National Green Tribunal directed that older vehicles should not be allowed to function in Delhi-NCR in order to combat pollution levels in the capital region. This 2015 order was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018.
