The Delhi High Court on Wednesday issued notices to the Union Ministries of Environment & Forests, Petroleum & Natural Gas and Finance and the Central Pollution Control Board on a public interest litigation submitting that the sudden rise in the use of diesel cars due to the huge subsidy on the fuel had raised the pollution levels in the Capital and other cities in the country.

The petitioner, social worker A. Narayanan, urged the Court to pass directions to the Union Government to withdraw the subsidy to affluent sections of society and prescribe stringent emission standards on all appropriate parameters for diesel vehicles uniformly throughout the country to control the pollution.