Overview

• The Delhi government suspended fuel denials and vehicle impoundments under the age-based ban after ANPR camera failures and petrol-dealer resistance disrupted its implementation.
• Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa has asked the Commission for Air Quality Management to formally withdraw the directive, calling its immediate rollout premature and counterproductive.
• The ban traces back to a 2015 National Green Tribunal order upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018, targeting diesel vehicles older than ten years and petrol models over fifteen.
• Lawyer Vardhaman Kaushik condemned the stalled rollout as "an open defiance of courts" and insisted that age-based measures must be enforced or replaced with emissions-focused policies.
• Environmental advocates are pushing for reliable Pollution Under Control tests, congestion pricing, low-emission zones, and major public transport investments instead of arbitrary age thresholds.