Auto Majors Didn't Get Relief As Ban On Big Cars, SUVs Remain
New Delhi: Automobile giants like Mercedes, Toyota, Mahindra and General Motors on Thursday failed to get any relief from the Supreme Court, which extended till April 30 the bar on registration of diesel-run SUVs and high-end cars with engine capacity of 2000 CC and above in the National Capital Region.
"The interim order banning registration of diesel-run vehicles with engine capacity of 2000 CC and above will continue till April 30," the three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur said.
The bench, also comprising Justices A K Sikri and R Banumathi, however extended by one more month the deadline, which was ending today, for converting all diesel-run taxis into CNG in the national capital.
While extending deadline for converting diesel-run taxis into CNG and continuing with the status quo on registration of diesel-run vehicles, the bench asked the reputed car makers not to treat the PIL as an "adversarial litigation" and "treat it in public interest".
It asked them to sit together and come out with the "propositions" so that some solutions could be arrived at by holding a full-fledged hearing on Saturdays, a non-working day for the apex court, to save some "judicial time".
When a counsel sought some relief on the registration of trucks in Delhi and NCR, the bench got irked and said, "no trucks will be registered as the city is already choked".
It rather went further and observed: "Heavens will not fall, if trucks are not registered."
"Rather, there is congestion on the roads due to trucks and why not impose congestion charge on them," it said, adding there was no space for their parking too.
While continuing with the ban on registration of diesel-run vehicles of 2000 CC and above, the bench said, "We are conscious of the fact that the order is going to affect the companies, market and economy."
When the arguments were made by senior advocates like Gopal Subramaniam, C A Sundaram, P Chidambaram and others on behalf of automobile majors, the bench said, "you have two choices, first to continue with the ban for six months or secondly, we impose the compensation charge on purchasers of diesel vehicles"
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
