The Supreme Court on Wednesday admitted a petition by Calcutta-based transporters seeking a stay on the high court order banning commercial vehicles more than 15 years old from August 1.

The apex court’s decision to hear the plea on Friday, a day before the ban comes into force, has raised hopes of the transport lobby but the government’s chief legal adviser is learnt to have clarified that the petition would not come in the way of enforcing the phase-out order.

“It’s a convention, not rule, to keep high court orders in abeyance so long the apex court is hearing petitions on similar issues. But legally the government is not barred from enforcing the ban till the Supreme Court imposes a stay on it,” a source quoted advocate-general Balai Ray as telling a group of senior state officials.

The officials met Ray in the high court to seek clarifications on the high court order, passed a year ago.

The petition in the Supreme Court was moved by the Banijyik Paribahan Bachao Committee, an apex body of transport operators in the state. Sadhan Das, a key member of the committee, said: “The apex court admitted our special leave petition which will come up for hearing on Friday.”

The court asked the committee to produce a document to establish that it was an “added party” to the case — an appeal against the phase-out order — pending in the high court.

“We will produce the document on Friday morning, before the hearing starts,” said Swarnakamal Saha, the spokesperson for the transporters’ committee and Trinamul Congress candidate from Bowbazar in the Assembly byelection.

Saha is upbeat about the outcome on Friday. “From what I hear, there’s a good chance of a positive outcome before the ban comes into effect,” Saha told Metro.

While the transporters were knocking on the apex court’s door for a “reprieve”, the delegation of senior officials was huddled with the advocate-general, discussing the fine points of the phase-out ruling and the possible fallout if the administration failed to execute the order.

The team comprised chief secretary Ashok Mohan Chakrabarti, police commissioner Gautam Mohan Chakrabarti, transport secretary Sumantra Chowdhury and the director-general of police, Bhupinder Singh.

Ray and government pleader Sovanlal Hazra refused to divulge what was discussed in the meeting but sources said the officials asked the advocate-general whether the high court order could be implemented till the apex court disposed of the transporters’ special leave petition.

The team also wanted to know how the court would react if a law and order problem broke out during the crackdown on old commercial vehicles that would ply defying the ban.

Ray, the sources added, told the officials that the court order had made it clear that commercial vehicles more than 15 years old could not be allowed to ply in the Calcutta Metropolitan Area from August 1. “There is no option left but to take action against vehicles that will defy the ban,” a source quoted Ray as saying.

The advocate-general also reminded the officials, all of whom would have to play key roles in enforcing the ban, that the government would have to submit an action taken report to the high court on August 21, when the case would come up for hearing.

“The administration will have to keep record of each and every incident it will face during implementation of the order,” the advocate-general reportedly said.