A government proposal to permit car manufacturers a grace period to sell their BS-VI non-compliant vehicles in the country after April 1, 2020, faced a strong opposition in the Supreme Court today. A lawyer even said that the people were as of now living in a gas chamber like situation and foetus too were getting affected due to the high level of pollution. The car makers had the same explanation of their justification for the grace period demand to sell their vehicles by reasoning that India was taking an urgent decision by changing BS IV emission norms to BS VI within a short span of time.
An amicus curiae lawyer assisting the court too voiced the same kind of arguments over the issue of air pollution in the Delhi-National Capital Region by saying that the government cannot allow its own subjects to die under such a health emergency.
“We can live without a car, but we cannot live without breath. … We are facing an emergency situation,” advocate Aparajita Singh, assisting the court as an amicus curiae over the issue of pollution, told a bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur.
Vehicular pollution is one of the biggest contributors of carbon dioxide and due to this reason emission norms have been introduced across the world not leaving aside India in order to bring down pollution levels and have cleaner cars on the roads.
The new emission norm “Bharat Stage VI (OR BS-VI) would be regulated from April 1, 2020, across the country. The present BS IV norms have been in force in the country since April 2017. Back in 2016, the government at the center had announced that the country would not enforce the next BS-V norms for the next time but instead will skip it and adopt BS-VI norms by 2020. According to Singh, there is a “health emergency” in the country because of the severe air pollution levels resulting in the endangerment of people’s lives. During the hearing, Singh told the bench which included Justices S Abdul Nazeer and Deepak Gupta, that the government has allowed till the date of June 30, 2020, for the automobile manufacturers to sell their BS-VI non-compliant four-wheelers which were manufactured till March 31, 2020.
Regarding heavy transport vehicles, the grace period has been further extended by the government at the center till September 30, 2020, she said. She questioned the government’s intention to allow a grace period to the automakers by bringing the fact in front of the justices that a report said that patients of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital of Delhi had pink lungs, a thing that was not seen by doctors before. Due to the severe respiratory problems, 581 people died in Delhi and about 17 lakhs still suffer due to the respiratory issues.
The counsel from the side of automobile manufacturers said that they were permitted to manufacture BS-IV vehicles till March 31, 2020, and they should get a reasonable time to sell their whole stock before the implementation.
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