SC allows sale of BS-IV vehicles except in Delhi-NCR for 10 days after coronavirus lockdown ends

In a relief to automobile dealers, the Supreme Court on Friday allowed the sale of BS-IV compliant vehicles for 10 days, except in Delhi-NCR, after the ongoing countrywide lockdown over the coronavirus pandemic is lifted.

The apex court, which had earlier fixed the deadline of March 31, 2020 for sale of BS-IV compliant vehicles across the country, passed the order on a plea by Federation of Automobile Dealers’ Association (FADA), seeking extension of time for sale of inventory amid coronavirus scare and economic slowdown.

A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and Deepak Gupta, which heard the matter on Friday through video-conferencing, made it clear however that no BS-IV vehicles will be allowed to be sold in Delhi-NCR from April 1, 2020.

It said that only 10 per cent of the unsold inventory of BS-IV vehicles can be permitted to be sold during this 10-day period after the lockdown, which has been enforced since March 24.

Bharat Stage (BS) emission norms are standards instituted by the government to regulate output of air pollutants from motor vehicles. The BS-IV norms have been enforced across the country since April, 2017.

India has decided to switch to the world's cleanest petrol and diesel from April 1 as it leapfrogs straight to Euro-VI emission compliant fuels from Euro-IV grades now - a feat achieved in just three years and not seen in any of the large economies around the globe.

The top court made it clear that BS-IV compliant vehicles which have already been sold but not registered due to lockdown can be registered after the restrictions are lifted.

It asked the automobile dealers to submit on affidavit the details of sold and unsold inventories, within one week.

While Additional Solicitor General ANS Nadkarni, appeared for the Centre through video conferencing from Goa, Senior Advocate K V Vishwanathan, appearing for FADA, linked up from his office here.

During the hearing, Vishwanathan said that the deadline needs to be extended due to the ongoing lockdown and economic slowdown faced by the country due to coronavirus pandemic.

He said that over 1.7 lakh passenger cars and 14,000 commercial vehicles amounting to Rs 7,000 crore are yet to be sold and sought time till May 31, to sell these BS-IV vehicles.

The top court, however, said that it cannot keep extending time for BS-IV vehicles and dealers should be ready to sacrifice and do something for the country’s environment.

Nadkarni said that people might have faced hardship in registering their vehicles sold before March 31 due to the lockdown and therefore time till end of April or May, be provided.

The bench disposed of two applications filed by FADA and Honda India seeking modification of apex court’s order of October 24, 2018, by which it had fixed the March 31, 2020 deadline for sale and registration of BS-IV compliant vehicles.

On February 14, the top court had rejected the plea filed by an association of automobile dealers seeking extension of the March 31, 2020 deadline by one more month to sell Bharat Stage-IV norms compliant vehicles across the country.

The apex court had on October 24, 2018 said no Bharat Stage-IV vehicle would be sold or registered in India from April 1, 2020. In 2016, the Centre had announced that India would skip the BS-V norms altogether and adopt BS-VI norms by 2020.

In its October 2018 order, the top court had said that any extension of time in introducing new emission norms would adversely impact the health of citizens as the pollution has reached an "alarming and critical" level.

It had said there cannot be any compromise on the health of citizens which has to take precedence over the "greed" of a few automobile manufacturers who want to stretch the time-line to make a "little more money".

The court had passed the order in 2018 while deciding the issue of whether BS­-IV compliant vehicles should be permitted to be sold in India after March 31, 2020.