The Supreme Court has agreed to listen to the plea of not enforcing the end-of-life vehicle ban on BS VI-compliant vehicles in the National Capital Region. A bench comprising Chief Justice of India B. R. Gavai and Justice K. Vinod Chandran will hear the petition challenging why strict emission norms that are for old cars should be the same for BS VI vehicles. The hearing will take place on July 28.
What is the petition?
A petition has been filed seeking to allow BS-VI vehicles to ply on NCR roads irrespective of the end-of-life vehicles rule, which the Delhi Government will enforce in November this year. It further states that the state government cannot change the Supreme Court’s previous directive on curbs on pollution for the National Capital Region.
According to the legal counsel, the National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) decision on the 2015 ban on 10-year-old diesel and 15-year-old petrol vehicles cannot be used as a blanket rule, as there’ve been advances in making BS-VI vehicles cleaner for the environment. It was also highlighted that this will be a massive expenditure burden on families who depend on the cars for their livelihood and have thoroughly maintained their vehicles.
What is the end-of-life vehicles rule?
In 2025, the NGT had ordered the ban of 10-year-old diesel and 15-year-old petrol vehicles running on the roads of the National Capital Region. This ban was later upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018.
On July 1, 2025, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) enforced the end-of-life vehicles rule, which created an uproar among the citizens. The ban was soon reversed, and Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa also intervened and sent a letter to the CAQM stating that the ban was premature and unjust, particularly for middle-class families relying on older vehicles for their livelihoods.
The panel decided to review the ban and announced that it will be temporarily suspended till November this year. This vehicle ban will be implemented across the National Capital Region (NCR), covering Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddha Nagar, and Sonipat.
