familiar scenes were witnessed in the recent courtroom drama on Delhi's polluting transport fleet, with key roles being enacted by the usual dramatis personae . But it ended on a different note. In a fitting finale, the Supreme Court (sc) brought the curtain down on the capital's diesel buses. It also came down heavily on polluters, asking them to pay for dawdling over conversion of their vehicles to cng (compressed natural gas).

The apex court's verdict is a sharp departure from its earlier approach of setting a deadline for the government and expecting it to comply with the order. Emphasis was laid this time on making public health the core issue through the application of the