Supreme Court Puts On Hold Volkswagen's Rs 500 Crore Fine By NGT For Diesel Cheat Devices

Volkswagen has a breather for now as the German car major will now be able to present its plea to the Supreme Court against the Rs 500 crore penalty that was imposed on it back in March by the National Green Tribunal for causing damage to the environment through its vehicles.

Volkswagen had earlier been accused of programming its diesel engines using cheat devices in order to avoid detection of emissions from the vehicles using them. For the same, the auto major had been fined a whopping Rs 500 crore by the NGT in March, with a two months period to pay the same.

Now, a bench headed by Justice S A Bobde stayed the fine imposition for the time being, directing a stay on any ¡°coercive steps¡± against the company till the time the hearing is completed.

(Representative Image: Reuters)

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Volkswagen had cited the NGT¡¯s order as ¡°arbitrary and unreasonable¡±, saying that the fine was imposed even when Volkswagen Group¡¯s vehicles were found to be in compliance with the environmental norms in India by none other than a committee appointed by NGT itself, in its CPCB report. The company hence questioned the penalty to the supreme court, stating that ¡°The NGT has imposed a penalty of Rs 500 crore upon the Volkswagen Group companies, without determining any provision of law that has been violated.¡±

India is not the first country where the German car maker has faced flak. The infamous ¡®Dieselgate¡¯ emission scandal in 2015 saw the firm being guilty of illegally programming its diesel engines with cheat devices to meet US regulatory standards. In reality, the company¡¯s vehicles were found to emit up to 40 times more Nitrous Oxides (NOx) in real-world conditions.

SC today agreed to hear Volkswagen Group's plea against order of National Green Tribunal(NGT) which had fined it Rs 500 crore for environmental damages by use of ¡°cheat device¡±in its diesel cars.Court said,"till it hears the matter, no coercive steps be taken against the company" pic.twitter.com/kmiQ1JoNKJ

¡ª ANI (@ANI) May 6, 2019

Citing the same reason, the NGT had imposed a penalty of Rs 100 crore on Volkswagen back in November last year, which the auto firm had challenged in the supreme court as well. NGT then slammed Volkswagen in January for not depositing the amount in time, directing it to do the same within 24 hours, failing which the directors of the company would be sent to jail.

Now that the supreme court has put a stay on the penalty till the time hearing is complete, only time will tell if the global auto major will be found guilty of the charges or not.