Delhi HC exempts NCR lawyers, court staff from ban on pre-BS-6 vehicles

The Delhi High Court on Friday said that lawyers and judicial staff residing in the National Capital Region will be exempt from the ban on vehicles registered outside Delhi that do not meet the Bharat Stage-6 emission standards, Bar and Bench reported.

The court was hearing a plea filed by the Delhi High Court Bar Association, which argued that lawyers and judicial staff perform essential duties.

The bench ruled that the exemption would apply only on court working days.

Starting November 1, as part of the Winter Action Plan, non-Delhi vehicles below the Bharat Stage-6 emission norms are not being allowed to enter the national capital till January 31.

Several lawyers practising in Delhi live in surrounding Gurugram, Faridabad, Noida and Ghaziabad and regularly travel to the capital for work, Bar and Bench quoted the petition as stating.

The association argued that the vehicle entry ban could hamper lawyers’ ability to reach court hearings on time. It added that such an exemption was previously granted to them during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The petitioners clarified that they were not seeking a blanket exemption from environmental regulations or immunity from stricter restrictions imposed under the Graded Response Action Plan, Live Law reported.

GRAP is a set of incremental anti-pollution measures that are triggered to prevent further worsening of air quality once it reaches a certain threshold...

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