The Supreme Court Tuesday continued its ban on registration of diesel SUVs and high-end vehicles with engine capacity of over 2000 cc in the capital until March 31, and observed that automakers will be “in trouble” if there is empirical evidence to show diesel pollutes more than petrol.
A bench led by Chief Justice T S Thakur asked Central and Delhi governments to adduce verifiable findings to examine the claim by automobile companies that modern diesel engines don’t cause more pollution than petrol engines since they work on superior technology.
The bench rejected a plea by automobile manufactures Mercedes, Toyota and Mahindra & Mahindra to lift the interim ban on registration of diesel vehicles of 2000 cc and above, “Do your cars emit oxygen? If we find diesel (engines) to be more polluting, you are in trouble.”
The prohibition was imposed by the bench — also comprising Justice A K Sikri and Justice R Banumathi — on December 16 after noting that “because of the higher engine capacity, they (diesel vehicles) are more prone to cause higher levels of pollution.” According to an affidavit filed by the government in the Supreme Court last year, diesel-driven vehicles account for over 90 per cent of SUVs in the country, 34 per cent of small cars and 70 per cent of large/medium cars.
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