Supreme Court - Daily Orders
M.C. Mehta vs Union Of India on 23 October, 2024
Author: Abhay S. Oka
Bench: Abhay S. Oka
ITEM NO.7 COURT NO.6 SECTION PIL-W
S U P R E M E C O U R T O F I N D I A
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
Writ Petition(s)(Civil) No(s). 13029/1985
M.C. MEHTA Petitioner(s)
VERSUS
UNION OF INDIA & ORS. Respondent(s)
(IN RE: COMMISSION FOR AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT (CAQM) 1) I.A. NO.
236055/2024 (APPLICATION FOR INTERVENTION) 2) I.A. NO. 231348/2024
(APPLICATION FOR DIRECTIONS) 3) I.A. NOS. 16223, 16230, 16235,
16236/2021 (APPLICATIONS FOR CONDONATION OF DELAY IN FILING,
CONDONATION OF DELAY IN REFILING, DIRECTIONS, PERMISSION TO APPEAR
AND ARGUE IN PERSON) NAME OF THE FOLLOWING ADVOCATES MAY BE TREATED
TO HAVE BEEN SHOWN IN THE LIST: MR. HARISH N. SALVE, SR. ADVOCATE
(A.C.) MS. APARAJITA SINGH, SR. ADVOCATE (A.C.) MR. A.D.N. RAO, SR.
ADVOCATE (A.C.) MR. SIDDHARTHA CHOWDHURY, ADVOCATE (A.C.)
PETITIONER-IN-PERSON MR. G.S. MAKKER, MR. AMRISH KUMAR, MR. M.K.
MARORIA MR. SANJAY KR. VISEN, MR. SUDEEP KUMAR, MR. KARAN SHARMA,
MR. SANDEEP KR. JHA MR. JYOTI MENDIRATTA, MR. RAHUL KHURANA, MS.
FILZA MOONIS, MR. ANIL KUMAR, ADVOCATES MR. DEEPAK KHOSLA,
PETITIONER-IN-PERSON)
Date : 23-10-2024 This petition was called on for hearing today.
CORAM :
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ABHAY S. OKA
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE AHSANUDDIN AMANULLAH
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE AUGUSTINE GEORGE MASIH
Ms. Aparajita Singh,Sr.Adv.(Amicus Curiae)
Mr. A.D.N.Rao,Sr.Adv. (Amicus Curiae)
Mr. Sidharth Chaudhary,Adv. (Amicus Curiae)
Ms. Shibani Ghosh,Adv.
Mr. Aditya Bharat Manubarwala,Adv.
For the parties:
Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.G.
Ms. Archana Pathak Dave,ASG
Mr. Wasim Quadri, Sr. Adv.
Mrs. Ruchi Kohli, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Gurmeet Singh Makker, AOR
Signature Not Verified
Ms. Suhashinin Sen, Adv.
Digitally signed by
ANITA MALHOTRA
Date: 2024.10.25
Mr. Rajesh K. Singh, Adv.
17:59:50 IST
Reason: Mr. S. S. Rebello, Adv.
Mr. Subhranshu Padhi, Adv.
Ms. Shagun Thakur,Adv.
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Ms. Manisha Chava,Adv.
Mr. Abhinav Aggarwal,Adv.
Mr. Mukesh Kumar Maroria, AOR
Mr. Raj Bahadur Yadav, AOR
Mrs. Alka Agarwal, Adv.
Ms. Sonali Jain, Adv.
Mr. Ashok Kumar B, Adv.
Ms. Baby Devi Bonia, Adv.
Mr. Anirudh Bhat, Adv.
Mr. Prashant Singh Ii, Adv.
Mr. Gaurang Bhushan, Adv.
Ms. Sweksha, Adv.
Dr. N. Visakamurthy, AOR
Mr. Raghav Sharma, Adv.
Mr. Shreekant Neelappa Terdal, AOR
Mr. Kanu Agrawal, Adv.
Mr. Bhuvan Kapoor, Adv.
Mr. Varun Chugh, Adv.
Mr. Krishna Kant Dubey, Adv.
Mr. Indira Bhakar, Adv.
Mr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Gurminder Singh AG Punjab/Sr. Adv.
Mr. Prashant Manchanda, A.A.G.
Mr. Vivek Jain, D.A.G.
Mr. Karan Sharma, AOR
Ms. Savi Nagpal, Adv.
Mr. Lokesh Sinhal, Sr. Adv.
Mr. B.K.Satija,AAG
Mr. Akshay Amritanshu, AOR
Mr. Rahul Khurana,Adv.
Mr. Samyak Jain,Adv.
Ms. Drishti Saraf,Adv.
Ms. Pragya Upadhyay,Adv.
Mr. Lokesh Sinhal, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Nikunj Gupta, Adv.
Ms. Himanshi Shakya, Adv.
Ms. Aakansha, Adv.
Mr. Rahul Khurana, AOR
Mr. Vipin Sanghi,Sr.Adv.
Mr. Manu Agarwal,Adv.
Mr. Saif Ali,Adv.
Mr. Anil Kumar, AOR
Ms. Sanjivani Aggarwal,Adv.
Ms. Jyoti Aggarwal,Adv.
Mr. Pradeep Shekhawat,Adv.
Ms. Filza Moonis, AOR
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Applicant-in-person
Petitioner-in-person
Mr. P. K. Jain, AOR
Mr. Ramesh Babu M. R., AOR
Mr. Rajesh Kumar Chaurasia, AOR
Mrs. Anil Katiyar, AOR
Mr. Hardeep Singh Anand, AOR
Mr. Sandeep Narain, AOR
Mr. Sushil Kumar Singh, AOR
Mrs. Rani Chhabra, AOR
Mr. G. Prakash, AOR
Ms. Nandini Gidwaney, AOR
Mr. Shri Narain, AOR
Mr. Umesh Kumar Khaitan, AOR
Ms. Shalini Kaul, AOR
Mr. Akshay Amritanshu , AOR
Mr. K. R. Sasiprabhu, AOR
Mrs. K. Sarada Devi, AOR
Mr. Sanjay Kumar Visen, AOR
Mrs. Priya Puri, AOR
Ms. Manjula Gupta, AOR
Mr. T. V. Ratnam, AOR
Mr. Balaji Srinivasan, AOR
Mr. Rajiv Ranjan Dwivedi, AOR
M/S. Khaitan & Co., AOR
Mr. S. S. Shroff, AOR
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Mr. Sushil Kumar Jain, AOR
Mr. Aniruddha Deshmukh, AOR
Mr. Ravindra Bana, AOR
Mr. Surya Kant, AOR
Mrs. B. Sunita Rao, AOR
Mr. Gunmaya S Mann, Adv.
Mr. Roop Narain, Adv.
Mr. Vineet Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Sambhav Jain, Adv.
Mr. Abhishek, AOR
Mr. Sarvam Ritam Khare, AOR
Mr. R. P. Gupta, AOR
Mr. P. Parmeswaran, AOR
Mr. Mohit D. Ram, AOR
Mr. Pramod Dayal, AOR
Mr. Satya Mitra, AOR
M/S. M. V. Kini & Associates, AOR
Mr. Nishe Rajen Shonker, AOR
Mrs. Anu K Joy, Adv.
Mr. Alim Anvar, Adv.
Mr. Rakesh Kumar-i, AOR
Mr. Parijat Sinha, AOR
M/S. Saharya & Co., AOR
Mr. Pavan Kumar, AOR
Mr. Sandeep Narain, Adv.
Ms. Kanak Malik, Adv.
For M/S. S. Narain & Co., AOR
Mr. Chirag M. Shroff, AOR
Mr. Ejaz Maqbool, AOR
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Dr. Menaka Guruswamy, Sr. Adv.
Mr. S. Wasim A Quadri, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Ajay Bansal, Adv.
Mr. Devesh Maurya, Adv.
Mr. Sukhamrit Singh, Adv.
Mr. Praveen Swarup, AOR
Mr. Prashant Kumar, AOR
Mr. Mahesh Agarwal, Adv.
Mr. E. C. Agrawala, AOR
Ms. Hemantika Wahi, AOR
Ms. Binu Tamta, AOR
Mr. Radha Shyam Jena, AOR
Mr. Pradeep Kumar Bakshi, AOR
Mr. Ashok Mathur, AOR
Mr. V. K. Verma, AOR
Mr. Alok Gupta, AOR
Mr. Ajit Pudussery, AOR
Mrs. Bina Gupta, AOR
Mr. Rakesh K. Sharma, AOR
Ms. Sujeeta Srivastava, AOR
Mr. Anil Kumar Jha, AOR
Ms. Vijayalaxmi Jha, Adv.
Mr. Mukesh K. Giri, AOR
Mr. Mandaar Mukesh Giri, Adv.
Mr. L.k. Giri, Adv.
Mr. Aakash Shankar, Adv.
Mr. Kautilya Sharma, Adv.
M/S. Parekh & Co., AOR
Mr. Sudhir Mendiratta, AOR
Ms. Pritha Srikumar Iyer, AOR
M/S. Karanjawala & Co., AOR
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Mr. V. N. Raghupathy, AOR
Ms. Charu Ambwani, AOR
Ms. Ripul Swati Kumari, Adv.
Ms. Astha Sharma, AOR
Mr. Rajesh Kumar Maurya,Adv.
Mr. Neeraj Shekhar, AOR
Mr. Mohit Paul, AOR
Mr. Nischal Kumar Neeraj, AOR
Mr. Shalen Bhardwaj, Adv.
Mr. Ashok Kumar Panigrahi, Adv.
Ms. Lakshmi, Adv.
Ms. Ekta Kalra, Adv.
Ms. Banisha Verma, Adv.
Mr. Nishit Agrawal, AOR
Mr. Yashraj Singh Bundela, AOR
Mr. Chanakya Baruah, Adv.
Ms. Saloni, Adv.
Mr. Rohan Singla, Adv.
Mr. Pulkit Agarwal, AOR
Mr. Gaurav, AOR
Mr. Shuvodeep Roy, AOR
Mr. Deepayan Dutta, Adv.
Mr. Saurabh Tripathi, Adv.
Ms. Divya Jyoti Singh, AOR
Mr. Vinay Garg, AOR
Mr. T. R. B. Sivakumar, AOR
Mr. Avadhesh Kumar Dubey, Adv.
Mr. Praveen Pathak, Adv.
Ms. Shraddha Khandhadia, Adv.
Ms. Akanksha Singh, Adv.
Ms. Manju Jetley, AOR
Mr. Amrish Kumar, AOR
Mr. Harsh V. Surana, AOR
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Ms. Rakhi Ray, AOR
Ms. Ishita Jain, AOR
Mr. Anand Kumar Shrivastava, Adv.
Mr. Ankit Bhandari, Adv.
Ms. Tulika Mukherjee, AOR
Mr. Akshay Girish Ringe, AOR
Ms. Aswathi M.K., AOR
M/S. M. V. Kini & Associates, AOR
Mr. Pradeep Misra, AOR
Mr. Daleep Dhyani, Adv.
Mr. Suraj Singh, Adv.
Mr. Manish Kumar, AOR
Mr. Divyansh Mishra, Adv.
Ms. Jyoti Mendiratta, AOR
Mr. Puneet Taneja, AOR
Ms. Vrinda Bhandari, AOR
Ms. Sakshi Kakkar, AOR
Ms. Shagun Matta, AOR
Mr. Gopal Jha, AOR
Mr. Shishir Deshpande, AOR
Mr. D.Kumanan, AOR
Ms. Deepa S, Adv.
Mr. Sheikh F Kalia, Adv.
Mr. Veshal Tyagi, Adv.
Mr. Chinmay Anand Panigrahi, Adv.
Ms. Pritha Srikumar Iyer, AOR
Ms. Rooh-e-hina Dua, AOR
Mr. Mudit Gupta , AOR
Ms. Divya Roy, AOR
Mr. Sandeep Kumar Jha, AOR
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Mr. Shiv Mangal Sharma, A.A.G.
Ms. Nidhi Jaswal, Adv.
Ms. Shalini Singh, Adv.
Mr. Saurabh Rajpal, Adv.
Ms. Puja Sharma, AOR
Mr. Gautam Narayan, AOR
Ms. Asmita Singh, Adv.
Mr. Tushar Nair, Adv.
Mr. Anirudh Anand, Adv.
Mr. Punishk Handa, Adv.
Mr. Neeraj Kumar Gupta, AOR
Mr. Danish Zubair Khan, AOR
Mr. Vikas Mehta, AOR
Ms. Garima Prashad, Sr. A.A.G.
Mr. Sudeep Kumar, AOR
Ms. Manisha, Adv.
Ms. Rupali, Adv.
Mr. H S Phoolka, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Niraj Gupta, AOR
Ms. Prabhaahay Kaur, Adv.
Mrs. Anshu Gupta, Adv.
Mr. Avani Chaudhary, Adv.
Mr. Mukesh Kumar Jain, Adv.
Ms. Surpreet Kaur,Adv.
Mr. Arani Chaudhary,Adv.
Mr. Shekhar Kumar, AOR
Mr. Rajan Narain, AOR
Mr. Ayush Sharma, AOR
Mr. Anurag Kishore, AOR
Ms. Mayuri Raghuvanshi, AOR
Dr. Brij Bhushan K Jauhari, Adv.
Mr. Deepak Jyoti Ghildiyal, Adv.
Mr. Satya Vir Singh Rana, Adv.
Ms. Purnima Jauhari, AOR
Mr. Hiren Dasan, AOR
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Mr. Ajay Vikram Singh, AOR
Mr. K. Paari Vendhan, AOR
Ms. Jaikriti S. Jadeja, AOR
Ms. Astha Tyagi, AOR
Mr. Sunil Fernandes, AOR
Mr. Kuldip Singh, AOR
Ms. Anushree Prashit Kapadia, AOR
Mr. Ketan Paul, AOR
Dr. Ram Sankar, Adv.
Mrs. Harini Ramsankar, Adv.
For M/S. Ram Sankar & Co, AOR
Ms. Malvika Kapila, AOR
Mr. Gaurav Kejriwal, AOR
Mr. Sameer Abhyankar, AOR
Mr. Rahul Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Aryan Srivastava, Adv.
Ms. Ayushi Bansal, Adv.
Mr. S. S. Shroff, AOR
Ms. Madhumita Bhattacharjee, AOR
Ms. Debarati Sadhu, Adv.
Ms. Srija Choudhury, Adv.
Mr. Anas Tanwir, AOR
Mr. Vikrant Singh Bais, AOR
Ms. Diksha Rai, AOR
Mr. Soumya Dutta, AOR
Mr. Sameer Kumar, AOR
Mr. Ajay Pal, AOR
Mr. Dhananjaya Mishra, AOR
Mr. Rajiv Yadav, AOR
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Mr. Vipin Nair, AOR
Mr. Rishi Matoliya, AOR
Mr. D. Abhinav Rao, AOR
Mr. Durga Dutt, AOR
Mr. Avijit Mani Tripathi, AOR
Mr. T.k. Nayak, Adv.
Ms. Preeti Sehrawat, Adv.
Ms. Rashmi Malhotra, AOR
Mr. Gaurav Choudhary, AOR
Mr. Ravindra Kumar, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Binay Kumar Das, AOR
Ms. Priyanka Das, Adv.
Ms. Neha Das, Adv.
Mr. Shivam Saxena, Adv.
Mr. Vikas Bharti, Adv.
Ms. K. Enatoli Sema, AOR
Ms. Limayinla Jamir, Adv.
Mr. Amit Kumar Singh, Adv.
Ms. Chubalemla Chang, Adv.
Mr. Prang Newmai, Adv.
Ms. Nidhi Mohan Parashar, AOR
Mr. P. Parmeswaran, AOR
Mr. Nirnimesh Dube, AOR
Mr. Ravindra S. Garia, AOR
Mr. Shashank Singh, Adv.
Mr. Madan Chandra Karnatak, Adv.
Mr. Ambuj Ojha, Adv.
Mr. Talha Abdul Rahman, AOR
Mr. Guntur Pramod Kumar, AOR
Ms. Prerna Singh, Adv.
Mr. Dhruv Yadav, Adv.
Mr. M. P. Devanath, AOR
Ms. Ruchi Kohli, Sr. Adv.
Ms. Srishti Mishra, Adv.
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Mr. R. C. Kohli, AOR
Mr. D. Abhinav Rao, AOR
Mr. Prakash Ranjan Nayak, AOR
Mr. Nitin Saluja, AOR
Mr. Deepayan Mandal, AOR
Ms. Shalu Sharma, AOR
Mr. Sahil Tagotra, AOR
Mr. Akhil Anand, AOR
Mr. Prashant Singh, AOR
Mrs. Prerna Dhall, Adv.
Mr. Piyush Yadav, Adv.
Mrs. Akanksha Singh, Adv.
Mr. Pranav Sachdeva, AOR
Mr. Sameer Shrivastava, AOR
Mr. Debojit Borkakati, AOR
Mr. Aakarshan Aditya, AOR
Mr. Satya Mitra, AOR
Mr. Prasanna S., AOR
Ms. Mithu Jain, AOR
Ms. Asha Gopalan Nair, AOR
M/S. Ahmadi Law Offices, AOR
Ms. Surabhi Sanchita, AOR
Mr. Vinod Sharma, AOR
Mr. Mahfooz Ahsan Nazki, AOR
Mr. Vinodh Kanna B., AOR
Mr. Sandeep Singh, AOR
Ms. N. Annapoorani, AOR
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Mr. S. Gowthaman, AOR
Ms. Neeru Vaid, AOR
Mr. Vivek Gupta, AOR
Mr. Vinay Garg, AOR
Ms. G. Indira, AOR
Mr. Subhro Sanyal, AOR
Ms. Misha Rohatgi, AOR
Mr. Ravi Prakash, AOR
Mr. Pukhrambam Ramesh Kumar, AOR
Mr. Vikrant Singh Bais, AOR
Mr. Alok Gupta, AOR
Mr. K. V. Mohan, AOR
Ms. Surbhi Mehta, AOR
Mr. Shovan Mishra, AOR
Ms. G. Indira, AOR
Mr. Yoginder Handoo, AOR
Ms. Nidhi Jaswal, AOR
Mr. Rakesh Kumar-i, AOR
Mr. Parminder Singh Bhullar, AOR
M/S. Mukesh Kumar Singh And Co., AOR
Mr. Arjun D Singh, Adv.
Ms. Ankita Sharma, AOR
Mr. Mukesh Verma, Adv.
Mr. Pankaj Kumar Singh, Adv.
Mr. Vatsala Tripathi, Adv.
Mr. Yash Pal Dhingra, AOR
Mr. Gopal Sankaranarayanan,Sr.Adv.
Mr. Senthil Jagadeesan, AOR
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Mrs. Rajshri Dubey, Adv.
Mr. Abhishek Chauhan, Adv.
Mr. Amit P Shahi, Adv.
Mr. Amit Kumar, Adv.
Mr. H B Dubey, Adv.
Mr. Rahul Sethi, Adv.
Mr. Shashibhushan Nagar, Adv.
Mr. Sumant A Khan, Adv.
Mrs. Sona Khan, Adv.
Mr. Rajendra Anbhule, Adv.
Mr. Ashutosh Dubey, AOR
Mr. Chandra Prakash, AOR
Mr. Anuj Bhandari, AOR
Ms. Lubna Naaz, AOR
Mr. Nishant Kumar, Adv.
Ms. Shashi Kiran, AOR
Ms. Sangeeta Bhalla, Adv.
Ms. Aastha Mehta, Adv.
Ms. Deepanwita Priyanka, AOR
Ms. Prerana Mohapatra, Adv.
Mr. Raghvendra Kumar, AOR
Mr. Anando Mukherjee, AOR
UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following
O R D E R
1. Pursuant to this Court's order dated 16th October, 2024, the Chief Secretaries of the States of Punjab and Haryana are present today.
2. We have heard the learned counsel appearing for the parties on the implementation of our earlier orders and, in particular, the order passed by the Commission for Air Quality Management (for short, "the Commission") on 10th June, 2021.
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3. As regards the implementation of the directions contained in paragraph 14 of the said order, today we have a scenario where both the Punjab and Haryana Governments have come out with a case that monitoring as required by clause (e) of paragraph 14 through Village Nodal Officers, Cluster Officers, Sub Divisional Officers, District level Officers and State Level Officers is now being done. However, the precise action taken by a large number of officers is not specifically placed on record.
4. It is claimed by the Chief Secretary of the Government of Haryana that this year, the instances of stubble burning have been reduced considerably. However, in the case of both Governments, we find that selective action is being taken against the wrongdoers. In some cases, the Governments claim that they have recovered compensation. In some other cases, they are claiming that they have registered First Information Reports. The environmental compensation that is stated to be recovered is minimal.
5. The learned Additional Solicitor General appearing for the Commission states that the Government of India has exercised power under Section 15 of the Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Act, 2021 (for short, "the Act") and has 14 adopted the formula laid down by the National Green Tribunal for fixing rates of compensation while framing Rules. Nothing is placed on record to show that the rule- making power has been exercised in terms of Section 15 of the Act prescribing the rates of compensation. The importance of Section 15 of the Act has to be understood in the context of the proviso to sub-section (1) of Section 14 of the Act, which excludes the farmers from the applicability of penal provisions. When such a concession is given to the farmers, power has to be exercised by the Government of India under Section 15 of the Act by framing rules and by providing appropriate Environmental Compensation. The Government cannot blindly rely upon the formula fixed by the National Green Tribunal.
6. We direct the Government of India to reconsider the issue and take action under Section 15 of the Act for prescribing proper rates of compensation. Section 15 of the Act talks about the manner of collecting compensation. Unless proper exercise of power under Section 15 of the Act is made, there cannot be any effective action against the wrongdoers. We expect the Government to take action within two weeks from today.
7. Another serious issue is flagged by the compliance affidavit filed by the State of Punjab. Our attention is invited to the amendment made to Section 15 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 (for short "the 15 Environment Protection Act") by Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023. Section 15 as originally enacted provided that violation of provisions of the Environment Protection Act, the Rules framed thereunder, and the directions and orders passed thereunder was an offence. The provision of Section 15, which required prosecution of the wrongdoers, is substituted by a provision for recovery of penalty for contravention of provisions of the Environment Protection Act. This provision came into force on 1st April, 2024. The substituted Section 15 has been rendered completely ineffective due to inaction on the part of the Government of India. Neither the Rules are framed to support the said provision nor has the appointment of adjudicating officers as provided in Section 15C been made, though more than six months have elapsed since the date the substituted Section 15 came into force. As the adjudicating officers are not appointed under Section 15C, the law-enforcing machinery cannot impose penalties under Section 15. In the absence of machinery created by the Government of India, Section 15 as substituted has become toothless. There is nothing in the hands of law-enforcing authorities to strictly enforce the provisions of the Environment Protection Act. Therefore, those who violate the laws are now scot-free, as no action can be taken against them. The learned Additional Solicitor General assures the Court that the entire machinery will be brought into existence within 16 two weeks from today.
8. The inaction is reflected in the figures given across the bar. For example this year, there are 1084 identified cases of stubble burning in Punjab. However, compensation has been recovered from only 473 persons. As far as Haryana is concerned, 419 cases have been identified. First Information Reports have been lodged only against 93 of the wrongdoers, and nominal compensation has been recovered in the case of 320 wrongdoers. Prima facie, it appears to us that the penal provisions have not been consistently applied by both the States.
9. Under Section 14(1) of the Act, penal action has to be taken against those officials who have not implemented the directions issued under Section 12 of the Act. Instead of setting criminal law in motion, all that the Commission has done is to issue a show cause notices.
10. The time has come to remind the Government of India and the State Governments that every citizen has a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution of India to live in a pollution-free environment. The stubble burning leads to huge air pollution. These are not matters only of implementing the existing laws; they are the matters of blatant violation of fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. It is not only a question of implementing the orders of the Commission and taking action for breaches 17 of law; the Governments will have to address themselves to the question of how they will protect the right of citizens to live with dignity and in a pollution-free environment. Therefore, it is a high time that the Governments and the authorities note that this litigation is not an adversarial litigation and this litigation is only to ensure that the laws relating to the environment are strictly complied with so that the constitutional rights of the citizens are protected. We may also note here that coordination between the Commission and the authorities of the States is absolutely necessary.
11. As noted in the earlier orders, the most important statutory committee under the Act is not properly functioning because many members remain absent in the Committee meetings. It is this Committee which deals with the implementation of the orders passed by the Commission. Now, there is an assurance in the affidavit filed by the Union of India that necessary action will be taken, even to replace the members not attending the meetings.
12. Ms. Aparajita Singh, the learned senior counsel appointed as amicus curiae, is absolutely correct in submitting that year after year, this Court has passed directions to deal with the issue of stubble burning. In fact, she pointed out that creation of the Commission is as a result of the orders passed by this Court. She is right in submitting that despite the orders passed by 18 this Court, every year at the grass-root level there is no change.
13. We fully agree with the learned senior counsel appointed as amicus curiae, and we have put all concerned to notice that stricter action will have to be taken against those responsible for violations.
14. We direct the Government of India to immediately look into the proposal submitted by the State of Punjab for the release of additional funds so that provision for making available tractors with drivers and diesel can be made to those farmers whose holding is less than 10 hectares. We direct the Government of India to take appropriate decision on the proposal submitted by the State Government within two weeks from today.
15. The learned amicus curiae has rightly pointed out that the other aspects causing pollution in Delhi will have to be addressed. Those issues are broadly as under:
(a) There are 13 hot spots in Delhi already identified by EPCA where large-scale open burning of garbage/waste burning happens;
(b) Pollution created by transport in Delhi;
(c) Entry of heavy trucks in Delhi; and
(d) Pollution caused by industries.
16. This Court has issued a large number of directions on the aforesaid aspects from time to time. We direct the State Government of Delhi to examine all earlier 19 orders passed by this Court on the aspects mentioned above and submit a compliance report regarding all the directions within two weeks from today. Certain directions were also issued against the Central Government. The Government of India and all National Capital Region States shall file similar compliance affidavits.
17. For hearing on the subjects mentioned above and for reporting compliance with the directions issued today, list on 4th November, 2024 at the end of the Board.
18. The presence of the Chief Secretaries is dispensed with.
IA No.236055/2024
19. We direct the applicant to provide copies of the application to the learned counsel representing all the State Governments. We direct the State Governments to look into the suggestions made in the application.
20. List on 4th November, 2024 at the end of the Board.
IA No.231348/2024 and 158128/2019
21. List on 4th November, 2024 at the end of the Board. IA Nos.88585/2020 and 16223, 16230, 16235 and 16236 of 2021
22. The Registry will ensure that copies of IA D.Nos.64377, 50346, 50347, 50349 and 50350 of 2020 are 20 placed before the Court on the next date.
23. List on 4th November, 2024 at the end of the Board.
(ANITA MALHOTRA) (AVGV RAMU)
AR-CUM-PS COURT MASTER
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