Maruti issued a statement saying it is considering various options following the SC judgment. The company was not able to present its view point on the case as it was not fully prepared, sources said, adding that this time "we will be fully prepared." Legal experts agree that there are some grey areas in the order which need clarification.

The SC has banned registration of non-commercial vehicles not adhering to Euro-II emission norms from April 1, 2000 and restricted registration of vehicles not meeting the Euro-I norms from June 1, 1999 to 1,250 petrol vehicles and 250 diesel vehicles per month till April 1, 2000.

Maruti managing director RSSLN Bhaskarudu said, "it is a question of logistics and access to manufacture and supplies of components tomeet the new schedule." Once the company has assessed the full implications of the judgment, it will prepare plans and look at various options in order to meet the requirements of all its customers, he said.

The unexpected ruling given by the Supreme Court leaves Maruti with no option but to go in for imports of the multi-point fuel technology and that too may not be possible in the near future, sources in the company said. "Even the ordering cycle is three to four months," sources said.

The total cost of the technology, imported or locally manufactured to meet the Euro-II norms, would be in the range of Rs 30,000 to Rs 35,000 per unit. At present the company is assessing the situation, but increase in costs cannot be avoided.

Maruti is also in talks with Suzuki to find a possible solution to the issue. The company, which sells around 5,000 cars per month in the capital alone, was planning to introduce the multi-point fuel technology adhering to Euro-II norms by April next year.

The company hadplaced orders with its vendors including Denso, Pricol, TVS-Lucas and Ucal Systems to provide the technology but the products can be rolled out only after testing, trial and certification is completed.

Maruti has also pointed that the reduction of the number of cars sold within the NCR would create myriad problems and possibility of trans-migration of cars sold in other areas.

According to industry experts, it seems the court did not take the practical implementation problems associated with the order. Though the judgment is in right spirit, the court seems to have not taken the total picture in consideration, experts said.

Restricting the car market to 1,500 per month will have serious business implications for all car manufacturers, irrespective of the fact whether they conform to emission standards or not, said an automobile expert.

Two-wheelers, buses and trucks contribute a lot to pollution in the city, however the order does not comment on them. Diesel-run vehicles contribute seven times moreto pollution than petrol-run vehicles, industry experts said. The two-million second-hand vehicles running in the city too add their bit.