<p>

</p><p>This would come as a huge relief to the auto companies and those seeking to buy diesel SUVs and cars with engine capacity of more than 2000cc. The Supreme Court said on Wednesday that it is considering to lift the ban on sale of these vehicles in the National Capital Region on one-time payment of a green cess over showroom prices.<br><br>The observation of a bench came after two majors auto companies, Mercedes and Toyota, through senior advocates Gopal Subramaniam and Gopal Jain, offered to deposit 1 percent of the ex-showroom price of the vehicle with 2000cc or more diesel engines as cess for permission to resume sales, which was stalled on court orders since 1st January as part of measures to control air pollution in Delhi.<br><br>The CJI Thakur said, "Buyers of big diesel cars must realize these were more polluting vehicles. We are planning to allow car manufacturers to resume sale of these big diesel cars subject to some green cess as these are prima facie more polluting than the petrol variants. The person who buys these big diesel cars must know that he is buying a polluting vehicle and that is why he is paying more."<br><br>Jain informed the court that Toyota was ready to deposit 1 percent of ex-showroom cost of these big diesel cars on voluntary basis. He said while requesting the court to advance the hearing in this case, "But the car manufacturers would sit together and come out with a concrete proposal on calculating the green cess to be imposed on these big diesel cars." The court have agreed and matter will be heard on 4th July.</p><p>The bench has questioned, "Is there any emission standard for vehicle manufacturers in India? Who enforces it on vehicles when they are manufactured? If you are failing in Europe, what is the guarantee that you are not failing in India? Is there any authority which has tested the cars for emission norm compliance prior to permitting their sales in India?" The bench instructed the manufacturers to provide a proposed plan for imposing green cess on bigger diesel vehicles and wanted to know from the government the testing agency for pollution norm compliance prior to permitting manufacturers to sell their cars.</p><p>Amicus curiae Aparajita Singh and A D N Rao told the court that Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) was the authorized agency to test the prototype of cars for compliance with various norms prior to permission for their sale. She added, "ARAI has tested the Euro III compliance norms and found certain discrepancies. However, Euro-IV emission norm compliance of vehicles have not been tested."</p><p></p>