On Wednesday, the Supreme Court emphasized that vehicle owners in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) must take responsibility for affixing colour-coded stickers on their petrol and diesel vehicles. The court asked the Centre and legal experts to propose a way to implement this rule for vehicles registered before April 2019, as it currently applies only to those registered after that date.
The court was addressing a public interest litigation filed by lawyer-activist MC Mehta, who sought measures to curb pollution in the capital.
Justice Abhay S. Oka, leading the bench, remarked, “We want the law to clearly state that the owner is responsible for attaching the sticker. Our main concern is how to enforce this rule for vehicles registered before April 1, 2019.” The bench, which also included Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, suggested that a penalty should apply for non-compliance.
The court also noted that a timeline should be set to ensure that vehicles without the sticker would not be issued a pollution under control (PUC) certificate. This requirement could be tied to vehicle insurance renewals or ownership transfers. The matter will be further heard on January 27.
Senior advocate Aparajita Singh, assisting the court as an amicus curiae, informed that older vehicles in Delhi-NCR had not been provided with the necessary stickers. In response, the bench said it would use its powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to enforce the rule.
A recent report from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) revealed that the rollout of high-security registration plates (HSRP) with hologram-based colour-coded stickers in Delhi-NCR showed a 95% compliance rate for vehicles registered after April 2019. However, the compliance rate was only around 30% for older vehicles.
Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, representing the Centre, explained that a December 2018 order had designated the coloured stickers as the third registration mark, with vehicle manufacturers responsible for affixing them.
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