Supreme Court bans registration of diesel SUVs in Delhi

The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered a ban on registration of diesel-run passenger vehicles of over 2000cc engine capacity in New Delhi and NCR till March 1, 2016.

It also banned commercial vehicles registered before 2005 from entering Delhi. Also, commercial vehicles, which are not Delhi-bound, will not be allowed to enter the national capital through entry points NH-8 and NH-1.

The SC also ordered all taxis in Delhi be converted to CNG.

The court said it would also double the Environment Compensation Cess to be levied on commercial vehicles



entering Delhi. Light commercial vehicles would have to pay Rs. 1400 instead of Rs. 700 and the heavy ones Rs. 2600, up from Rs. 1300. It was only on October 12 that the court had fixed the environment compensation charges.

Earlier, amicus curiae and senior advocate Harish Salve submitted that 30 per cent of Delhi’s vehicular population was diesel-run and the number of vehicles as a whole had increased by 97 per cent since 2000. Mr. Salve said every third child in Delhi suffered from respiratory disorders and pollution mostly affected children and the elderly.