Supreme Court Stops Seizure Of 10/15 Year Old Vehicles: Temporary Relief To Owners

Finally, the Supreme Court of India listened to the pleas of lakhs of “End of Life” vehicle owners, and massive relief has been given to these people living in Delhi-NCR. Recently, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, Minister for Environment, Forest and Wildlife of Delhi, stated that the Honorable Supreme Court has directed stopping the seizure of 10-year-old diesel and 15-year-old petrol cars in Delhi-NCR. The apex court will give further instructions on the matter at the next hearing of the Delhi Government's plea to withdraw the ban on EoL vehicles based on age.

Big relief to old car owners in Delhi-NCR

The video in which Manjinder Singh Sirsa announced this good news has been shared on X by PTI on their channel. In this short video, Sirsa mentions that, giving relief to the people of Delhi-NCR, the Supreme Court of India, while hearing the Government of Delhi's plea, stated that no coercive actions should be taken against old car owners in Delhi-NCR.

For those who may not be aware, recently the Government of Delhi filed a plea requesting the apex court to overturn the ban on old petrol and diesel vehicles based on their age. The Government of Delhi argued that the life of a vehicle should not be determined by its age; rather, it should be determined by the pollution it generates.

It was mentioned in the plea that old vehicles which do not pollute should be tested for pollution, and if they are found to be in a non-polluting state, then they should not be banned. In the video, Sirsa stated, “Chief Minister Rekha Gupta fought this battle on behalf of the people of Delhi. We hope that in the days to come, we will be able to bring permanent relief to the residents of Delhi-NCR.”

Till when is this relief?

As mentioned above, the owners of 10-year-old diesel vehicles and 15-year-old petrol cars have the relief of their vehicles not being seized for the next four weeks. The Supreme Court of India, in its next hearing, will decide the fate of old cars based on the reports and other details provided by the Government of Delhi.

CAQM admits that no scientific study was done before banning old cars

Recently, a huge revelation was made public after environmentalist Amit Gupta filed an RTI (Right to Information) seeking an explanation behind the ban on old cars based on their age. It was revealed in the RTI’s reply that there has been zero independent research conducted so far.

The Commission for Air Quality Management, in its reply, stated that the ban implemented on old cars stemmed from the NGT’s (National Green Tribunal) 2015 ruling in a case involving Vardhman Kaushik vs Union of India and the Supreme Court's order in M.C. Mehta vs Union of India. No new scientific study was conducted before implementing this ban on the public.

When this was revealed a few days ago, it was highlighted that this might be used by the Government of Delhi to make their plea stronger before the apex court. Most likely, this is exactly what has happened, and the court has now stayed the ban on old cars for the next four weeks. Most likely, we could see the old car ban getting completely overturned.