Fuel ban suspension: Delhi govt to inform SC about public inconvenience, AAP's lapses

New Delhi, July 7 (IANS) Delhi Transport Minister Pankaj Kumar Singh said on Monday that the government is preparing to approach the Supreme Court to seek relief over the now-suspended curbs on selling fuel to end-of-life (EOL) vehicles and inform it about the previous AAP government’s green mistakes.

“We are going to tell the Supreme Court that people should not be put to inconvenience for the lapses of the previous government,” Singh told IANS.

Refusing to comment on allegations of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders that vehicles are being illegally seized under the new BJP government, Singh said, “I don’t want to talk about a party which was born due to a bunch of lies and whose government kept lying and misleading people on issues like drinking water, roads, Yamuna-cleaning and Mohalla Clinics.”

Their leaders should remain confined to Punjab, where they have fled after lying to Delhi residents and losing the Assembly election, he said.

Citing technological glitches and gaps in the availability of vehicle databases from NCR states, the Delhi government last week approached the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to put on hold its direction to stop selling fuel to overage and polluting vehicles.

Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said a collective ban across the NCR would be the ideal solution for countering the menace of polluting, end-of-life (EOL) vehicles.

“This is an issue of debate and concern. We are going to present facts before the Supreme Court and fight for the rights of Delhi residents. We will also plead that only those pollution parameters that are applicable in the entire country should be enforced in the Capital,” she said.

Last week, the Delhi government approached the CAQM to place on hold its direction to stop selling fuel to overage and polluting vehicles from July 1.

In a letter addressed to the CAQM chairperson, Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa called the implementation of the ban on the sale of fuel to End-of-Life (EoL) vehicles “premature” and “potentially counterproductive”.

The Delhi government’s request to CAQM comes in the backdrop of growing discontent and outcry among EoL vehicle owners who insist on enforcing a ban on ageing vehicles that is based on their fitness and emission levels, and not just their age on paper.

The Minister said he was writing to “request the Commission to place on hold the enforcement of Direction No. 80 dated April 23, 2025, which mandates the denial of fuel to EoL vehicles in Delhi.”

Sirsa told the CAQM chief that the implementation of the direction to stop sales to EoL vehicles had revealed certain issues that must be addressed before these are fully implemented.

The transport department has defined EoL vehicles as those which are no longer validly registered vehicles, whether running on petrol, CNG or diesel. These also include petrol vehicles more than 15 years old and diesel vehicles more than 10 years old.

--IANS

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