New Delhi, Dec 17 (UNI) The Supreme Court on Wednesday clarified that only vehicles meeting BS-IV emission standards or higher are allowed to ply in Delhi, effectively permitting enforcement action against older vehicles that fail to meet these norms. The latest order modified apex court’s August 12 order that had barred coercive action against diesel vehicles older than 10 years and petrol vehicles older than 15 years in the National Capital Region (NCR).
A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul Pancholi passed the clarification on a plea by the Delhi Government, which sought permission to act against older vehicles in view of the worsening air quality in the national capital.
Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Delhi Government, urged the Court to modify the August 12, 2025, order to allow action against vehicles with emission standards up to BS-III.
“Older vehicles have very poor emission standards and are significantly contributing to pollution,” the ASG submitted.
Supporting the submission, Senior Advocate Aparajita Singh, the amicus curiae in the air pollution matter in MC Mehta, pointed out that BS-IV norms came into effect in 2010 and that BS-III vehicles predated this regime.
Recording the submissions, the Bench directed that the August 12 order stands modified “to the extent that no coercive steps shall be taken against owners of vehicles which are BS-IV and newer, merely on the ground that they are above 10 years old in the case of diesel engines and 15 years old in the case of petrol engines.”
The Court recalled that in 2015, the National Green Tribunal had directed that diesel vehicles older than 10 years and petrol vehicles older than 15 years should not be permitted to ply in Delhi-NCR to curb pollution, a direction that was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018.
In 2024, the Delhi Government issued the Guidelines for Handling End-of-Life Vehicles in Public Places of Delhi.
More recently, it ordered that end-of-life vehicles would not be supplied with fuel at petrol pumps from July 1, 2025, though the decision was subsequently kept in abeyance following public backlash.
Thereafter, the Delhi Government approached the Supreme Court seeking a modification of the blanket age-based ban, pursuant to which the August 12 order was passed.
The latest clarification now enables authorities to proceed against older vehicles that do not meet BS-IV emission norms, even as protection continues for BS-IV and newer vehicles despite their age.
