SC bans sale of BS-IV non-compliant vehicles

The Supreme Court has banned sale and registration of BS-IV non-compliant vehicles from April 1 when the upgraded emission norms come into force. The court said health of the people is “far, far more important than the commercial interests of the manufacturers”.

A bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta noted that the makers of such vehicles declined to take sufficient proactive steps despite being fully aware that they were required to manufacture only BS-IV compliant vehicles from April 1, 2017. The court also prohibited registration of vehicles, which do not meet Bharat Stage (BS)-IV emission standards, from April 1, except on a proof that such vehicles were sold on or before March 31.

“We direct that on and from April 1, 2017, vehicles that are not BS-IV compliant shall not be sold in India by any manufacturer or dealer, that is to say such vehicles — whether two-wheeler, three-wheeler, four-wheeler or commercial vehicles — will not be sold in India by any manufacturer or dealer,” the bench said.

The SIAM earlier contended that the companies held stock of around 8.24 lakh vehicles, which were not BS-IV compliant, including 96,000 commercial vehicles, over six lakh two-wheelers and around 40,000 three-wheelers.

Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar, appearing for the Centre, had argued that requisite quality fuel for BS-IV compliant vehicles would be available all over the country from April 1 and refineries had incurred an expenditure of about Rs 30,000 crore on it.