The Supreme Court has barred registration of Bharat Stage-IV vehicles till it decides on the issue of sale of such vehicles during the lockdown period.
An unsually high number of BS-IV vehicles were sold during March, the apex court's bench hearing the matter said, and sought details of ads by car dealers since March.
The Supreme Court had on March 27 allowed dealers to sell 10% of BS-IV inventory beyond the March 31 BS-VI deadline, providing relief when the pandemic worsened sales of an industry that's already grappling with a prolonged slowdown. The court, however, recalled the order on July 8 saying that BS-IV vehicles were sold during the lockdown in the last week of March and after March 31 also.
On Friday, the bench, headed by Justice Arun Mishra and comprising Justices BR Gavai and Krishna Murari, asked the automobile dealers association to place before it details of vehicles sold either online or via direct sale during the lockdown period in last week of March.
"You are in great trouble. We will prosecute somebody," the bench told the counsel appearing for the dealers association. "We will take appropriate action against these fellows," the bench said, referring to the surge in the number of BS-IV vehicles sold especially on March 29, 30 and 31.
The bench has now posted the matter for further hearing on Aug. 13.
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On July 24, the Supreme Court had expressed displeasure over an oral plea by the automobile dealers association that dealers should be allowed to return unsold inventory of BS-IV vehicles to manufacturers for export to other countries.
The association had said that there are some countries where sale of BS-IV vehicles is still allowed. In response, the bench had said, “Why should we pass orders for that? Manufacturers were aware of the deadline.”
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