No sale of BS-IV vehicles from April 1, 2020: SC
The Supreme Court yesterday said that no Bharat Stage IV vehicle shall be sold across the country with effect from April 1, 2020. The Bharat Stage emission standards are instituted by the government to regulate the output of air pollutants from motor vehicles. The Bharat Stage VI (or BS-VI) emission norms would come into force from April 1, 2020, across the country.
Court says there's a need to move to cleaner fuel
A three-judge bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur said only BS-VI compliant vehicles shall be sold from April 1, 2020, saying the need of the hour was to move to a cleaner fuel. The BS-IV norms have been enforced across India since Apr'17. In 2016, the Center had announced that India would skip the BS-V norms altogether and adopt BS-VI norms by 2020.
Court to decide on giving grace period to manufacturers
The SC was deciding whether automobile manufacturers should get grace-period for sale of BS-VI non-compliant vehicles after April 1, 2020. At a previous hearing, advocate Aparajita Singh, who assisted the court as an amicus curiae in air pollution matter, opposed the government's move to give time till June 30, 2020, to automobile manufacturers to sell their BS-VI non-compliant four-wheelers manufactured till March 31, 2020.
Automobile manufacturers say India moving to BS-VI very fast
Singh had also opposed the government's proposal to give grace period till September 30, 2020, for sale of BS-VI non-compliant heavy transport vehicles. The automobile manufacturers had argued that India was leapfrogging from BS-IV emission norms to BS-VI very fast. They said they were allowed to manufacture BS-IV vehicles till March 31, 2020, and they should be granted reasonable time to sell their stock.
Center had decided to give 3-6 months to manufacturers
Additional Solicitor General, ANS Nadkarni, who had appeared for the Center, had told the apex court that the government considered it fit to give 3-6 months to the manufacturers to sell their stock of BS-IV vehicles after April 1, 2020.
