The Supreme Court on Wednesday ended the protection granted to those driving 10-year-old diesel and 15-year-old petrol vehicles of BS-III emission standards (or lower) in the National Capital Region (NCR) including Delhi, modifying its August 12 order that barred coercive action against such vehicle owners.In its latest report submitted to the court, CAQM has recommended excluding BS-III and older vehicles from the relief granted in August.
The bench passed the order on a recommendation made by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in Delhi and adjoining areas which said that due to the August 12 order, even the more polluting vehicles were back on roads adding to the pollution load and were exempt from being impounded by the state authorities.
A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, justice Joymalya Bagchi and justice Vipul M Pancholi said, ”The August 12, 2025 order is modified to the extent that no coercive steps shall be taken against the owners of BS-IV and newer emission standard vehicles on the ground that they are 10-year old diesel and 15-year old petrol vehicles.”
The CAQM’s recommendation was presented to the court by additional solicitor general (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati who pointed out that the expert body considered the pollution load by vehicles in Delhi-NCR and found that vehicles of emission standards of BS-I, BS-II and BS-III are still operating on roads of Delhi and NCR which was detrimental to the health of citizens in view of the high pollution levels.
“For controlling vehicular emissions, BS-III and below standard vehicles are required to be kept out of purview of order dated August 12, 2025 of the Supreme Court considering the emission potential of these vehicles in comparison to BS-VI emission standards.”The commission noted that vehicular pollution is one of the most significant contributing sectors to the generally poor air quality in Delhi-NCR and plying of EoL vehicles has always been a matter of concern.
The National Green Tribunal passed a series of orders in 2014-2015 for restriction of plying of End of Life vehicles in the NCR. This decision was confirmed by the top court on October 29, 2018.Following an careful analysis on the impact caused by vehicles with emission standards of BS-III and below, the CAQM said it has been more than 15 years that BS-III emission standard vehicles had been plying, more than 20 years for BS-II vehicles and over 24 years for BS-I Standard vehicles.
“Since Delhi-NCR faces an extraordinary situation, specially during the winter season due to poor dispersal of pollutants on account of unfavourable meteorological conditions, there is a need to restrict plying of polluting vehicles based on emission standards in Delhi-NCR,” the report said.
According to the CAQM, about 93% of the vehicles are Light Motor Vehicles (LMV) and 2-Wheelers in Delhi-NCR which constitute the bulk of such vehicles. Towards ensuring compliance of the Supreme Court orders, in April 2025, the CAQM had directed denying fuel to all EOL vehicles from November 1 this year and five high vehicle density NCR districts from April 1, 2026.
Follow us
