Delhi HC refuses interim relief against ban on non-Delhi pre-BS-VI vehicles

The Delhi High Court on Monday declined to grant interim relief against the city government's ban on non-Delhi-registered pre-BS-VI vehicles entering the capital between November 1 and January 31.

A bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Nitin Wasudeo Sambre and Justice Sanjay Sharma issued a notice on a petition filed by a Faridabad-based lawyer without passing an interim order, scheduling the next hearing alongside a related matter for November 27.

Represented by advocate Anurag Saxena, petitioner Gurmukh Dass Kohli challenged the Department of Environment and Forests' June 23 notification imposing the three-month restriction. Saxena argued that Delhi requires a cohesive strategy rather than piecemeal measures that differentiate between identical vehicles.


The petition highlighted that pre-BS-VI vehicles registered in Delhi remain permitted to operate within the city during the ban. It alleged that this creates "differential treatment" and unfairly restricts residents of the broader National Capital Region—including legal professionals and litigants, from traveling into the capital.

Furthermore, the plea criticized the policy as disproportionate for enforcing a blanket ban regardless of daily AQI levels, despite the source notification outlining milder alternatives such as year-round compliance monitoring and elevated parking fees.

"Under the Impugned Direction, from 01.11.2026 to 31.01.2027, on every day and at every hour, irrespective of the Air Quality Index on that day, the Petitioner will be barred from driving his duly registered Haryana vehicle into Delhi, while an otherwise comparable BS-IV vehicle registered in Delhi is outside the scope of the same restriction," the plea submitted.

"The classification turns on the place of registration and not on emission. Exhaust does not change with the registering authority; the differentia has no nexus with the object of controlling pollution and fails the test of Article 14," it contended.

Additionally, the challenge pointed out that the Commission for Air Quality Management's (CAQM) revised Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) issued in September does not mandate such entry bans, asserting that the administration's decision lacks scientific backing.