New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that no Bharat Stage-IV vehicle shall be sold across the country with effect from April 1, 2020. The top court noted that India cannot afford to fall back further even by a day in introducing the BS-VI emission norms as its pollution levels are “alarming” and it urgently needs to move to a cleaner fuel. It has decided that the Bharat Stage-VI (or BS-VI) emission norm would come into force from April 1, 2020, across the country. A three-judge bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur made it clear that only BS-VI compliant vehicle shall be sold in the country from April 1st, 2020. The bench said the need of the hour was to move to a cleaner fuel. “The right to live in an environment free from smoke and pollution follows from the ‘quality’ of life which is an inherent part of Article 21 of the Constitution,” it said.
The Bharat Stage (BS) standards are instituted by the government to regulate the output of air pollutants from vehicles that use combustion engines. The BS norms are based on European emission norms. These norms are followed largely by all automakers across the globe. BS-IV norms had been enforced across the country from April 2017. The top court also noted that Europe had introduced Euro-VI norms way back in 2015. A bench comprising Justices Madan B Lokur, S Abdul Nazeer and Deepak Gupta said, “Europe introduced Euro-IV fuel in the year 2009 and Euro-VI standards in 2015. We are already many years behind them. We cannot afford to fall back further even by a single day”.
Noting that India has 14 out of the 20 most polluted cities in the world, the bench said that the effect of pollution on the environment and health is huge and so if there is a conflict between health and wealth in terms of profit that manufacturers might make, health will have to be given precedence. “We are dealing here with a situation where children and unborn children suffer from pollution and issues of inter-generational equity are involved,” the bench said and noted there was more than sufficient time for manufacturers to make BS-VI compliant vehicles. It said that some of the manufacturers were not willing to comply with the March 31, 2020 deadline not because they do not have the technology, but because the use of technology would lead to increase in the cost of vehicles which might lead to a reduction in sales and ultimately their profit.
The amount spent on countering the ills of pollution such as polluted air, damaged lungs and the cost of health care far outweigh the profits earned, the bench said.
In 2016, the Centre had announced that the country would skip the BS-V norms altogether and adopt BS-VI norms by 2020. The changes in the automobiles under the wake of BS-VI norms will include mandatory Diesel Particulate Filter for Particulate Matter reduction, Selective Catalytic Reduction module to reduce oxides of nitrogen, and Gasoline Direct Injection Engines- more efficient petrol engines to control carbon oxide emission levels. Apart from this, automobile manufacturers would need to manufacture hybrid vehicles and it would be mandatory to make smaller engines to lower fuel consumption, especially at lower speeds where most cars spend most of their times.
The apex court’s order came while deciding whether grace period should be given to the automobile manufacturers for the sale of BS-VI non-compliant vehicles after April 1, 2020.
Referring to the situation of pollution in the country, the bench said,
The pollution in Gwalior, Raipur and Allahabad is worse than Delhi. The situation is alarming and critical. It brooks no delay.