Calcutta, Jan. 5: Calcutta High Court today stuck to its schedule on the ban on polluting autos, refusing a plea for early hearing and prompting the government to defer by a few days its petition for extending the deadline.

The Autorickshaw Operators’ Association approached the court with a request to advance the hearing on a petition seeking a stay on the ban.

The division bench, headed by Chief Justice S.S. Nijjar, took less than a minute to decide. “The matter is fixed for hearing on January 9 and it will be heard on that day,” the chief justice said.

This means the ban on two-stroke autos stands unchanged as of now, though the government has said it will “go slow”. “The low-key manner” — as the home secretary put it — was in evidence today: 15 autos were seized from Beniapukur and Tollygunge while thousands were allowed to ply unhindered.

The Autorickshaw Operators’ Association has the blessings of the Trinamul Congress. The stand of Citu, too, is not different.

After the court refused to advance the hearing, the government announced that it would wait till January 9 before seeking more time to implement the ban.

Sources told The Telegraph that the decision to wait till Friday was taken after the division bench refused to hear the plea of the auto operators.

“A government-empanelled lawyer, who also represents the association, had moved the case. When the court did not want to hear the case before the scheduled hearing, the government did not want to take a chance,” a source said.

It was also decided that the government would place a fresh package before the high court to encourage auto operators to replace their two-stroke autos with four-stroke LPG autos.

“The government will try to impress upon the court its eagerness to implement the ban. So a decision has also been taken to oppose the petition filed by the association that has demanded a stay on the high court order,” the source added.

Later, home secretary Ardhendu Sen said: “We are working on a revised timetable for banning two-stroke autos and replacing them with four-stroke LPG autos. We shall place it before the high court on January 9 asking it to extend the December 31 deadline.”

The decision was announced after the chief minister held a meeting with chief secretary Ashok Mohan Chakrabarti, transport secretary Sumantra Chowdhury and Sen.

“After sitting so many months on the order, the government is seeking an extension of deadline. Seeking an extension will not be enough, the government will have to first make up its mind,” said Subhas Dutta, a petitioner in the case, referring to the July 18 court verdict that imposed the ban.

Sen, Chowdhury and police commissioner Gautam Mohan Chakrabarti met advocate-general Balai Roy at his chamber in the high court.

The government has decided to base its case on three factors: resistance from auto operators, provoked by “a particular party”; lack of infrastructure; and inconvenience to commuters.