Supreme Court backs NGT’s ban on old vehicles in Delhi

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The court’s stand assumes significance since the Centre last week said it intends to move a similar appeal against the NGT ban in the coming days.

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On April 8, picking up several points brought out in the ‘Death by Breath’ series, an ongoing investigation by The Indian Express on the quality of air in Delhi, the NGT had issued a fresh ban on all diesel vehicles more than 10 years old from plying in the National Capital Region.

But following outcry from transporters, the tribunal on April 14 decided to keep its order in abeyance and gave the central and state governments two weeks to submit “reasoned and scientifically supported views” on the issue.

The appeal by lawyer Vishaal Shripati Jogdand against the November 26 ban had claimed that the Motor Vehicles Act prescribed a fitness test, and not the vehicle’s age, to ascertain whether it should be allowed to ply or not.

The court, however, pointed out that this was not the first time old vehicles were being sought to be taken off the roads. The bench recalled that it had passed an order ratifying a directive by the Andhra Pradesh High Court to phase out vehicles older than 15 years, and said the NGT order was on the lines of what had already been held valid by the constitutional courts.

“We remember the Andhra Pradesh High Court had passed such an order and the matter came to us in special leave to appeal. We dismissed the appeal and upheld the ban. So nothing appears to be wrong with what the tribunal is doing today. It is only repeating orders passed by the constitutional courts,” said the bench.

Union Minister for Road, Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari had said last week that the government would approach the Supreme Court and seek more time to phase out old vehicles.

Moreover, in an affidavit filed in January in response to a separate PIL on pollution in Delhi, the government had opposed a ban on old vehicles across the country, saying this was just a “short cut” formula to control pollution.

“At present, the ministry does not propose to mandate the age limit of private vehicles because this is a short-cut approach. The fitness testing of the vehicle will prove whether a vehicle has reached the end of its life or not,” Gadkari’s ministry had said.

Since this matter is also slated to come up for hearing before the CJI-led bench, the government’s stand is likely to meet the same fate as the appeal by Jogdand.

Jogdand’s lawyer Debasis Misra argued that instead of the age of the vehicles, the fitness of the vehicles should be the criteria to stop them from plying on roads. He also contended that the NGT could not substitute by its order what has been written in the Motor Vehicles Act, which did not put a ban on vehicles older than 15 years.

Misra further asked: “If pollution inside the court room increases, will the lawyers be banned from entering the hall?” The bench, however, remained unimpressed with the arguments and said that there was no reason to interfere with the NGT order.