New Delhi, Aug. 13 -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed no coercive action to be taken against those driving 10-year-old diesel and 15-year-old petrol vehicles in Delhi, effectively staying the implementation of its own October 2018 order which signed off on a 2014 order of the National Green Tribunal seeking to keep polluting vehicles off the roads in an attempt to combat the Capital's noxious air. The 2014 and 2018 orders were never strictly enforced, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which came to power this year in the Union territory, and which made pollution one of its campaign issues, sought to do so this July by denying fuel to overage vehicles - only to face significant pushback from people. The Delhi government, on July 25, then challenged the ban as unscientific and said a vehicle's fitness should be based on its emission level, and not age. A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Bhushan R Gavai, justices K Vinod Chandran and NV Anjaria said, "In the meantime, no coercive steps shall be taken against the owners of cars on the ground that they are 10 years old in respect of diesel and 15 years in respect of petrol vehicles." The court issued notice on the Delhi government's application and posted the matter after four weeks. Solicitor general Tushar Mehta appeared for the Delhi government and sought urgent orders on the application claiming that the police is duty-bound to act under the ban imposed by the court. "Let there be no coercive action. Otherwise, police is under an obligation to take action against these vehicles," Mehta said. There were similar applications moved by residents in Delhi and transport unions aggrieved by the ban. The court agreed to examine the issue. The order under challenge was passed by the top court on October 29, 2018 upholding the initial orders passed in this regard by the National Green Tribunal. The BJP-led government in Delhi said it was constrained to approach the top court considering the practical difficulties faced by the citizens in the Capital. The application filed last month said, "To tackle the issue of pollution in the NCR region, a comprehensive policy is required which gives vehicle fitness based on the actual emission levels of an individual vehicle as per scientific methods rather than implementing a blanket ban based solely on the age of the vehicle."The government also raised a public interest concern. It said, "The directive to off road vehicles purely on the basis of age disproportionately affects middle-class citizens whose vehicles are less used, well-maintained, and compliant to fuel norms. It is submitted that the studies indicate that these vehicles often have significantly lower annual mileage and contribute negligibly to overall emissions." It further stated that implementation of the court's order "negatively affects" the market of second-hand cars, which alone is affordable by the poor and lower middle income class families residing in the region. Soon after coming to power in Delhi, the BJP government of the UT decided to deny fuel supply to end-of-life vehicles, which have crossed the threshold of 10 and 15 years operating on diesel and petrol. This decision was to be implemented from July 1. However, within days of implementation, the government sensed public sentiment and put its decision on hold. The application by the government acknowledged that the ban had a salutary aim in curbing pollution in Delhi over the past seven years. However, it said that the same was passed when Bharat Stage IV (BS-IV) emission standards were in force. Since April 2020, it added, Bharat Stage VI (BS-VI) has been implemented, which has much stricter and advanced norms. "If the order of this court dated October 29, 2018 continues to operate, it will result in road worthy, non-polluting BS-VI vehicles also going off the roads in a matter of a few years without a scientific basis for the same.there does not appear to be a scientific basis for mandating that even BS-IV vehicles which meet PUC norms should be taken off the roads in Delhi NCR. These are serious issues which may require a fresh scientific evaluation," the application said. The government's application said no data-based evidence currently exists to establish that all diesel vehicles older than 10 years or petrol vehicles older than 15 years are uniformly polluting. Instead, it said that the road-worthiness of a vehicle which is a technical and scientific issue must be linked to actual emissions as tested and recorded by mechanisms set out under the Motor Vehicles Act, the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, as opposed to a blanket ban on the basis of age which is unlinked to actual emissions. Prior to the SC order, the NGT had in November 2014 directed that all diesel vehicles (heavy or light) which are over 10 years old and petrol vehicles more than 15 years old will not be permitted to ply on Delhi roads. These orders were challenged multiple times before the top court which refused to interfere. On October 29, 2018, the court while considering the 92nd Report of the erstwhile Environmental Pollution Control Authority (now replaced by CAQM) accepted the suggestions of the amicus curiae endorsing the NGT order of November 2014. CAQM had used the VAHAN database to estimate 6.2 million ELVs (end of life vehicles) in Delhi, including 4.1 million two-wheelers and 1.8 million four-wheelers. However, government officials later clarified that this number includes vehicles that are already scrapped, de-registered, or issued no-objection certificates to be sold outside the NCR. A senior official familiar with the data said the actual number of ELVs still operating on Delhi roads is likely closer to 600,000-just 10% of the figure cited by CAQM. Delhi's total vehicle population is around 8.1 million, according to the Delhi Statistical Handbook 2024....