Supreme Court pulls up automobile associations for flouting orders on BS-IV norms

Noting that its order on relaxations for sale and registration of BS 4 vehicles has been flouted by dealers, the Supreme Court on Monday pulled up automobile associations, including the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA).

A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra and also comprising Justice S Abdul Nazeer and Justice Indira Banerjee was hearing a case related to the relaxation in the sale and registration of vehicles, compliant with BS 4 emission norms.

The bench said that its earlier order on relaxations for sale and registration of BS 4 vehicles has been apparently flouted by automobile dealers. The apex court observed that it had allowed the sale and registration of 1.05 lakh BS 4 vehicles, but 2.55 lakh vehicles have been sold since then.

The top court sought the details of the sale and registrations of vehicles by FADA by Friday and also asked the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to submit the details of BS 4 vehicles sold and registered after the court's March 27 order.

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What are BS 4 vehicles?

Bharat stage emission standards (BSES) are emission standards instituted by the Centre to regulate the output of air pollutants from compression ignition engines and spark-ignition engines equipment, including motor vehicles. The standards and the timeline for implementation are set by the Central Pollution Control Board under the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change.

India has decided to switch to the world's cleanest emissions standard from April 1 after it leapfrogged from Euro 4 to Euro 6. In 2016, the government announced that the country would skip the BS V norms altogether and adopt BS-VI norms by 2020.

The Supreme Court had on March 27 granted relief to the automobile industry and allowed the sale of BS 4 compliant vehicles for 10 days after the first phase of the nationwide lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus was lifted.

(With ANI inputs)

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