Supreme Court extends deadline on sale of new BS4 vehicles
The Supreme Court on Friday allowed BS-4 standard vehicles to be sold outside Delhi-NCR for ten days after the lockdown implemented in the country due to the corona virus epidemic is lifted. The apex court had earlier set the March 31, 2020 deadline for the sale of new vehicles with BS-IV standard. A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and Justice Deepak Gupta passed the order after hearing the petition of the Federation of Automobile Dealers Association.
The organization had requested the court to extend the period of sale of the remaining vehicles of BS-4 standard in view of the fear and economic slowdown of the Coronavirus in the country. The court heard this petition through video conferencing and clarified that BS-4 standard vehicles will not be sold in Delhi-NCR from April 1, 2020. The bench said that after the end of the lockdown implemented in the country from March 24, only 10 per cent of the remaining stock of BS-4 standard can be allowed to be sold for 10 days.
The government has set Bharat Stage standards to curb air pollution from motor vehicles. BS-4 standards are in force in the country from April 2017. The court clarified that vehicles with BS-4 standard, which have been sold but not registered due to lockdown, can be registered after the lockdown is over.
The apex court directed automobile dealers to give details of vehicles which have not been sold within a week. Additional Solicitor General ANS Nadkarni from the Center from Goa and Senior Advocate KV Vishwanathan from the Association argued the matter through video conferencing from his office.
Sales deadline may not increase continuously
During the hearing, Viswanathan said that due to the lockdown and economic slowdown caused by the corona virus, there is a need to extend this deadline. He said that more than 1.7 lakh cars and 14,000 commercial vehicles worth more than seven thousand crores of BS-4 standard are yet to be sold. He requested to extend this period to 31 May. However, the apex court said that it cannot continuously extend the deadline for sale of vehicles of these standards and dealers should be prepared to give up.
