Supreme Court - Daily Orders
Reckitt Benckiser India Pvt Ltd vs The State Of Uttarakhand Through Its ... on 14 June, 2018
Bench: Uday Umesh Lalit, Deepak Gupta
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IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CIVIL APPEAL NO.5837 OF 2018
RECKITT BENCKISER INDIA PVT. LTD. ... APPELLANT(S)
VS.
STATE OF UTTARAKHAND & ORS. ... RESPONDENT(S)
O R D E R
1. A perusal of the order passed by the National Green Tribunal on 31.5.2018 indicates that an interim report submitted on behalf of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) had mentioned that eight industries were non- compliant. Taking due cognizance of such report, the National Green Tribunal thereafter directed closure of those eight industries. The principal grievance raised by Mr. Ranjit Kumar, learned Senior Advocate on behalf of -
1) Reckitt & Benkiser Unit-I, B-170, Phase-I, Eldeco Sidcul Industrial Park, Sitarganj-262405; and 2) Reckitt & Signature Not Verified Benkiser (Wet) Unit-II, B-96, Phase-I, Eldeco Sidcul Digitally signed by BALA PARVATHI Date: 2018.06.15 17:03:53 IST Reason: Industrial Park, Sitarganj- 262405, is that the order under appeal was passed without affording them any opportunity of hearing and that they could as well have 2 satisfied the National Green Tribunal on the merits of matter. He has also invited our attention to order dated 12.6.2018 passed by the High Court of Uttarakhand in SPA Nos.431, 432, 433 & 434 of 2018.
2. The units run by the present appellant, namely, Reckitt Benckiser India Pvt. Ltd., are running industrial units and any closure or suspension will naturally have adverse consequences. Be that as it may. It is apparent that the order under appeal was passed without affording any opportunity to the appellant. On this limited issue, we are of the view that the matter must be considered afresh by the learned National Green Tribunal. We, therefore, set aside the order of closure passed by the National Green Tribunal as against the appellant.
3. The order indicates that the matters are listed on 18.6.2018. The appellant shall appear before the National Green Tribunal on 18.6.2018 and participate in the proceedings.
4. We are conscious that this order is passed without issuing notice to the other side. We find from the record that Mr. Raj Panjwani, learned Senior Advocate, had appeared as an Amicus Curiae in the matter and the process got initiated only upon the submission of the interim report by CPCB. Since the matter is listed before the National Green Tribunal on 18.6.2018, we have taken up this matter at ex-parte stage and disposed of with the aforesaid observations.
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5. We have not and shall not be taken to have expressed any opinion on merits of the matter, which shall be gone into independently.
...........................J. [UDAY UMESH LALIT] ...........................J. [DEEPAK GUPTA] New Delhi;
14th June, 2018
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ITEM NO.8 COURT NO.5 SECTION XVII
S U P R E M E C O U R T O F I N D I A
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
Civil Appeal No(s).5837/2018
RECKITT BENCKISER INDIA PVT. LTD. Appellant(s)
VERSUS
THE STATE OF UTTARAKHAND & ORS. Respondent(s)
Date : 14-06-2018 This appeal was called on for hearing today. CORAM :
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE UDAY UMESH LALIT HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE DEEPAK GUPTA (VACATION BENCH) For Appellant(s) Mr. Ranjit Kumar,Sr.Adv.
Mr. R. Jawahar Lal,Adv.
Mr. Siddharth Bawa,Adv.
Mr. Shaymal Anand,Adv.
Mr. Mayank Mishra,Adv.
For Mr. Balaji Srinivasan,AOR For Respondent(s) UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following O R D E R The appellant shall appear before the National Green Tribunal on 18.6.2018 and participate in the proceedings.
The appeal is disposed of in terms of the signed order. Pending application, if any, stands disposed of.
(Sarita Purohit) (Jagdish Chander)
Court master Branch Officer
(Signed order is placed on the file)