Environment – Vehicular pollution – Shift from Bharat Stage IV (BS-IV) compliant vehicles to BS-VI compliant vehicles – Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) and other Automobile manufacturers sought permission to sell BS-IV compliant vehicles in India after 31.03.2020 and made reference to the notification dated 20.02.2018 whereby sub-rule 21 has been inserted in Rule
115 of the Central Motor Vehicle Rules,1989 – According to SIAM, BS-VI fuel will be available in the entire country only with effect from 01.04.2020 and manufacturers were, therefore, forced to stop production after 31.03.2020 and switch over to BS-VI compliant vehicles overnight – Held: Sub-rule 21 of Rule 115 is very vague as it does not talk of sale of vehicles – It only mentions registration of vehicles and permits registration of vehicles conforming to BS-IV norms up to 30.06.2020 and in case of categories M & N, up to 30.09.2020 – This rule is violative of Art.21 of the Constitution in as much as it extends time for registration of vehicles beyond 31.03.2020 – When BS-VI fuel is compared with BS-IV, there is massive improvement in environmental terms – Once BS-VI emission norms are enforced, there will be 68% improvement in PM 2.5 – Some manufacturers are not willing to comply with the 31.03.2020 deadline because new use of technology will lead to increase in the cost of the vehicles which may lead to reduction in sales of the vehicles and their profit – However, there can be no compromise with the health of the citizens and in case of conflict between the health and wealth, health will be given precedence – Thus, in exercise of power vested u/Art.142, sub-rule 21 of Rule 115 to be interpreted and understood to read that no motor vehicle conforming to the emission standard BS-IV shall be sold or registered in entire country with effect from 01.04.2020 – Constitution of India – Arts. 142 and
21 – Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989 – Sub-rule 21 in r.115. Issuing the directions, the Court
HELD: 1. It is because of orders of this Court that BS-IV and now BS-VI norms have been introduced, now this Court is taking suo moto notice of the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989. At the outset, sub-rule 21 of Rule 115 is very vague. It does not talk of sale of vehicles. It only mentions registration of vehicles and permits registration of vehicles conforming to BS-IV norms up to 30.06.2020 and in case of categories M & N, up to 30.09.2020. This rule, is violative of Article 21 of the Constitution in as much as it extends time for registration of vehicles beyond 31.03.2020 and must be accordingly read down. Any extension of time in introducing the new norms which is not absolutely necessary adversely impacts the health of the citizens and is, therefore, violative of Article 21 of the Constitution of India. This Rule goes against the spirit of all the orders passed earlier by this Court. From today, 31.03.2020 is almost 1 ½ years away. There is sufficient time for the manufacturers to change over to the new system and, therefore, there is no reason why they should be given a window of three or six months for sale of accumulated vehicles. Every vehicle sold after the cut-off date of 01.04.2020 is bound to cause more pollution and, therefore, the manufacturers, cannot be permitted to sell any non-BS-VI compliant vehicle on or after 01.04.2020. On the one hand, the Government has been pro-active in spending huge amounts of money to move to the BS-VI technology, but on the other hand, the automobile industry is coming up with a variety of untenable excuses just to delay the introduction of BS-VI compliant vehicles by a few months. [Para 19] [575-H; 576-A-F]
2. The facts only highlight that some of the manufacturers are not willing to comply with the 31.03.2020 deadline not because they do not have the technology but because the use of technology will lead to increase in the cost of the vehicles which may lead to reduction in sales of the vehicles and ultimately their profit. There can be no compromise with the health of the citizens and if one has to choose between health and wealth, keeping in view the expanded scope of Article 21 of the Constitution, health of the teeming millions of this country will have to take precedence over the greed of a few automobile manufacturers. The automobile manufacturers must behave responsibly. [Para 14] [573-E-F]
3. The Government has developed a policy of phasing out polluting vehicles and discouraging the manufacturers of polluting vehicles. This has been done in a gradual manner. Europe introduced Euro-IV fuel in the year 2009 and Euro-VI standards in 2015. The need of the hour is to move to a cleaner fuel as early as possible. [Para 20] [577-A-B]
4. Therefore, in exercise of the power vested in this Court under Article 142 of the Constitution, it is directed that sub-rule
21 of Rule 115 shall be interpreted and understood to read that no motor vehicle conforming to the emission standard Bharat Stage-IV shall be sold or registered in the entire country with effect from 01.04.2020. [Para 21] [577-B-C]
Shantistar Builders v. Narayan Khimalal Totame (1990)
1 SCC 520; Bhavani River - Sakthi Sugars Ltd., In re (1998) 2 SCC 601 : [1998] 1 SCR 431; M.C. Mehta v. Union of India (1998) 6 SCC 60; M.C. Mehta v. Union of India (1998) 6 SCC 63 : [1998] 3 SCR 918 ; M.C. Mehta v. Union of India (Matter regarding emission standard for vehicles) (1999) 6 SCC 12; M.C. Mehta v. Union of India (2002) 10 SCC 191; M.C. Mehta v. Union of India 2017 SCC Online SC 394; N.D. Jayal v. Union of India (2004) 9 SCC 362 : [2003] 3 Suppl. SCR 152 – referred to.
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