Supreme Court - Daily Orders
M.C. Mehta vs Union Of India on 24 April, 2025
Author: Abhay S. Oka
Bench: Abhay S. Oka
ITEM NO.14 COURT NO.4 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)
[TO BE TAKEN UP AT 2:00 P.M.]
IN RE: STRENGTHENING AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT MONITORING NETWORK
ENFORCEMENT VACANCIES IN SPCBS AND IN RE: CONSTRUCTIONS AND ROAD
DUST AND IN RE: GRIEVANCE REDRESSAL MECHANISM AND IN RE: SOLID
WASTE MANAGEMENT IN RE: COMPLIANCE REPORTED BY THE OTHER ENTITES
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.) MS. UTTARA BABBAR, SR. ADVOCATE (A.C.)
MR. A.D.N. RAO, SR. ADVOCATE (A.C.) MS. SHIBANI GHOSH, ADVOCATE
(A.C.) MR. SIDDHARTHA CHOWDHURY, ADVOCATE (A.C.) 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, ADVOCATES)
Date : 24-04-2025 This petition was called on for hearing today.
CORAM :
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ABHAY S. OKA
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE UJJAL BHUYAN
Ms. Aparajita Singh, Sr. Adv. (A.C.)
Ms. Uttara Babbar, Sr. Adv. (A.C.)
Ms. Shibani Ghosh, Adv.
For the Parties: Mrs. Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.G.
Mrs. Ruchi Kohli, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Wasim Quadri, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Mukesh Kumar Maroria, AOR
Mrs. Suhasini Sen, Adv.
Mr. Rajesh Kr. Singh, Adv.
Mr. Subhranshu Padhi, Adv.
Mr. Jagdish Chandra Solanki, Adv.
Mr. Gaurang Bhushan, Adv.
Dr. Menaka Guruswamy, Sr. Adv.
Signature Not Verified
Mr. Wasim S. Qadri, Sr. Adv.
Digitally signed by
ASHISH KONDLE
Date: 2025.04.29
Mr. Utkarsh Pratap, Adv.
20:03:52 IST
Reason: Ms. Arunima Das, Adv.
Mr. Devesh Maurya, Adv.
Ms. Bhumika Yadav, Adv.
1
Mr. Praveen Swarup, AOR
Ms. Jyoti Mendiratta, AOR
Ms. Ananya Basudha, Adv.
Applicant-in-person, AOR
Petitioner-in-person
Mr. Gurmeet Singh Makker, AOR
Mr. P. K. Jain, AOR
Mr. Ramesh Babu M. R., AOR
Mr. Rajesh Kumar Chaurasia, AOR
Mr. E. C. Agrawala, AOR
Mr. Prashant Kumar, AOR
Mr. Lokesh Sinhal, Sr. A.A.G.
Mr. B.K. Satija, A.A.G.
Mr. Rakesh Kumar Mudgal, A.A.G.
Mr. Akshay Amritanshu, AOR
Mr. Rahul Khurana, Adv.
Mr. Nikunj Gupta, Adv.
Ms. Drishti Saraf, Adv.
Ms. Pragya Upadhyay, Adv.
Ms. Aakanksha, Adv.
Ms. Ishika Gupta, Adv.
Mr. Sarthak Arya, Adv.
Mr. Ravi Vashisht, Adv.
Mr. Radha Shyam Jena, AOR
Ms. Hemantika Wahi, AOR
Ms. Binu Tamta, AOR
Mr. Ajit Pudussery, AOR
Mrs. Bina Gupta, AOR
Mr. Ashok Mathur, AOR
Mr. V. K. Verma, AOR
Mr. Anil Kumar Jha, AOR
Mr. Mukesh K. Giri, AOR
Mr. Mandaar Mukesh Giri, Adv.
2
Ms. Adviteeya, Adv.
Mr. Rakesh K. Sharma, AOR
Ms. Sujeeta Srivastava, AOR
Mrs. Anil Katiyar, AOR
M/S. Parekh & Co., AOR
Mr. Sudhir Mendiratta, AOR
Mr. Sushil Kumar Singh, AOR
Mr. Hardeep Singh Anand, AOR
Mr. Sandeep Narain, AOR
Mr. Nishe Rajen Shonker, AOR
Mr. Alim Anvar, Adv.
Ms. Nandini Gidwaney, AOR
Mrs. Rani Chhabra, AOR
Mr. G. Prakash, AOR
Mr. K. R. Sasiprabhu, AOR
Mr. Shri Narain, AOR
Mr. Umesh Kumar Khaitan, AOR
Ms. Shalini Kaul, AOR
Ms. Manjula Gupta, AOR
Mrs. K. Sarada Devi, AOR
Mr. Sanjay Kumar Visen, AOR
Mrs. Priya Puri, AOR
M/S. Khaitan & Co., AOR
Mr. T. V. Ratnam, AOR
Mr. Balaji Srinivasan, AOR
Mr. Rajiv Ranjan Dwivedi, AOR
Mr. Ravindra Bana, AOR
Mr. S. S. Shroff, AOR
3
Mr. Sushil Kumar Jain, AOR
Mr. Aniruddha Deshmukh, AOR
Mr. Sarvam Ritam Khare, AOR
Mr. Surya Kant, AOR
Mrs. B. Sunita Rao, AOR
Mr. Abhishek, AOR
Mr. Alok Gupta, AOR
Mr. Pramod Dayal, AOR
Mr. R. P. Gupta, AOR
Mr. P. Parmeswaran, AOR
Mr. Mohit D. Ram, AOR
Mr. Rakesh Kumar-I, AOR
Mr. Satya Mitra, AOR
M/S. M. V. Kini & Associates, AOR
Mr. Pavan Kumar, AOR
Mr. Parijat Sinha, AOR
M/S. Saharya & Co., AOR
Mr. Ejaz Maqbool, AOR
M/S. S. Narain & Co., AOR
Mr. Chirag M. Shroff, AOR
Ms. Pritha Srikumar Iyer, AOR
Mr. Pranav Sachdeva, AOR
Mr. Jatin Bhardwaj, Adv.
Mr. Abhay Nair, Adv.
Mr. P Rohit Ram, Adv.
Mr. Sameer Shrivastava, AOR
Ms. Nidhi Mohan Parashar, AOR
Mr. Kuldip Singh, AOR
4
Ms. Anushree Prashit Kapadia, AOR
Ms. Purnima Jauhari, AOR
Dr. Brij Bhushan K Jauhari, Adv.
Mr. Deepak Jyoti Ghildiyal, Adv.
Mr. O P Singh, Adv.
Mr. Harsh Mahan, Adv.
Ms. Mini Bhardwaj, Adv.
Mr. Danish Zubair Khan, AOR
Dr. Lokendra Malik, Adv.
Mr. Vikas Mehta, AOR
Mr. Mudit Gupta, AOR
Ms. K. V. Bharathi Upadhyaya, AOR
Mr. Shantwanu Singh, AOR
Ms. Surabhi Sanchita, AOR
Mr. Vinod Sharma, AOR
Mr. Debojit Borkakati, AOR
Mr. Vikrant Singh Bais, AOR
Ms. Manali Singhal, Adv.
Ms. Diksha Rai, AOR
Ms. Aanchal Kapoor, Adv.
Mr. Ketan Paul, AOR
Mr. Hiren Dasan, AOR
Mr. Ajay Vikram Singh, AOR
Ms. Garima Prashad, Sr. A.A.G.
Mr. Sudeep Kumar, AOR
Ms. Manisha, Adv.
Ms. Rupali, Adv.
Ms. Ananya Rai, Adv.
Mr. Niraj Gupta, AOR
Mrs. Anshu Gupta, Adv.
Ms. Shibani Ghosh, AOR
Mr. Atul Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Arun Gaur, Adv.
Mr. Abhimanyu Sharma, Adv.
5
Ms. Deepali, Adv.
Mr. Tarun Gupta, AOR
Mr. Vivek Gupta, AOR
Mr. Vinay Garg, AOR
M/S. Ram Sankar & Co, AOR
Mr. P. Parmeswaran, AOR
Mr. Durga Dutt, AOR
Mr. Soumya Dutta, AOR
M/S. Ram Sankar & Co, AOR
Ms. Malvika Kapila, AOR
Mr. K. Paari Vendhan, AOR
Mr. Prashant Manchanda, A.A.G.
Mr. Karan Sharma, AOR
Mr. Mudit Gupta, AOR
Mr. Kawaljit Singh Bhatia, AOR
Ms. Surbhi Mehta, AOR
Mr. Shovan Mishra, AOR
Ms. G. Indira, AOR
Mr. Prakash Ranjan Nayak, AOR
Mrs. Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.G.
Mr. Raj Bahadur Yadav, AOR
Mrs. Alka Agarwal, Adv.
Ms. Sonali Jain, Adv.
Mrs. Ruchi Kohli, Adv.
Mr. Ashok Kumar B, Adv.
Ms. Baby Devi Bonia, Adv.
Mr. Anirudh Bhat, Adv.
Mr. Prashant Singh Ii, Adv.
Mr. Avijit Mani Tripathi, AOR
Mr. Upendra Mishra, Adv.
Mr. P.S. Negi, Adv.
Mr. A.M. Tripathi, Adv.
Mr. T.K. Nayak, Adv.
Mr. Sameer Kumar, AOR
6
Mr. Ajay Pal, AOR
Mr. Gaurav Kejriwal, AOR
Mr. Sameer Abhyankar, AOR
Mr. Shankey Agrawal, AOR
Mr. Ankit Roy, AOR
Mr. Mukesh Verma, Adv.
Mrs. Vatsala Tripathi, Adv.
Ms. Manisha, Adv.
Mr. Yash Pal Dhingra, AOR
Mr. Premchand Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Ashutosh Dubey, AOR
Ms. G. Indira, AOR
Mr. Aakarshan Aditya, AOR
Mr. Satish C. Kaushik, Adv.
Mr. Rajneesh Kapoor, Adv.
Mr. Shiv Singh Rawat, Adv.
Mr. Nitin Saluja, AOR
Mr. Nirnimesh Dube, AOR
Ms. Rashmi Malhotra, AOR
Mr. Gurmeet Singh Makker, AOR
Mr. Dhananjaya Mishra, AOR
Mr. Rahul Khurana, AOR
Ms. Srishti Agnihotri, AOR
Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.G.
Ms. Suhasini Sain, Adv.
Mr. Shubhranshu Padhi, Adv.
Mr. Rajesh Kr. Singh, Adv.
Mr. Gaurang Bhushan, Adv.
Mr. Sudarshan Lamba, AOR
M/S. Karanjawala & Co., AOR
Mr. V. N. Raghupathy, AOR
Mr. Raghavendra M. Kulkarni, Adv.
Mr. Chandra Prakash, AOR
7
Mr. Mahfooz Ahsan Nazki, AOR
Mr. Satya Mitra, AOR
Mr. Deepayan Mandal, AOR
Mr. Ravindra S. Garia, AOR
Mr. Gaurav Choudhary, AOR
Mr. Binay Kumar Das, AOR
Mr. Aravindh S., AOR
Mr. Abbas B, Adv.
Ms. Jyoti P, Adv.
Ms. Meenakshi Chauhan, AOR
Mr. Gaurav, AOR
Mr. Shuvodeep Roy, AOR
Mr. Deepayan Dutta, Adv.
Mr. Saurabh Tripathi, Adv.
Ms. Charu Ambwani, AOR
Mr. Subhro Sanyal, AOR
Mr. Vinodh Kanna B., AOR
Mr. Prasanna S., AOR
Ms. Shalu Sharma, AOR
Mr. Sahil Tagotra, AOR
Mr. Talha Abdul Rahman, AOR
Mr. Guntur Pramod Kumar, AOR
Mr. Dhruv Yadav, Adv.
Mr. Bp Naidu, Adv.
Mr. Rishi Sehgal, AOR
Mr. Kunal Mimani, AOR
Mr. Prashant Alai, Adv.
Mr. Kumar Anurag Singh, Adv.
Ms. Tulika Mukherjee, AOR
Mr. Dev Aaryan, Adv.
Ms. Divya Jyoti Singh, AOR
8
Mr. Yoginder Handoo, AOR
Ms. Misha Rohatgi, AOR
Mr. Nakul Mohta, Adv.
Mr. Amulya Upadhyay, Adv.
Mr. Ayush Kahsyap, Adv.
Mr. Sandeep Singh, AOR
Ms. Mithu Jain, AOR
Ms. Asha Gopalan Nair, AOR
Mr. Akhil Anand, AOR
Mrs. Prerna Dhall, Adv.
Ms. Akanksha Singh, Adv.
Mr. Ambuj Swaroop, Adv.
Mr. Shivam Ganeshia, Adv.
Mr. Piyush Yadav, Adv.
Mr. Prashant Singh, AOR
Mr. Shivendra Singh, AOR
Mr. Sanjeev Kumar, AOR
Ms. Sakshi Kakkar, AOR
Mr. Akshay Girish Ringe, AOR
Mr. Anuj Bhandari, AOR
Mr. Shiv Mangal Sharma, A.A.G.
Mr. Saurabh Rajpal, Adv.
Ms. Shalini Singh, Adv.
Ms. Awanitika, Adv.
Ms. Nidhi Jaswal, AOR
Mr. Ravi Prakash, AOR
Ms. N. Annapoorani, AOR
Mr. S. Gowthaman, AOR
M/S. Ahmadi Law Offices, AOR
Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.G.
Ms. Suhasini Sen, Adv.
Mr. Rajesh Kr.singh, Adv.
Mr. Subhranshu Padhi, Adv.
Mr. Gaurang Bhushan, Adv.
Ms. Sweksha, Adv.
Dr. N. Visakamurthy, AOR
9
Mr. Aashhish Chauhan, Adv.
Ms. Sonal Chauhan, Adv.
Ms. Vanya Gupta, AOR
Ms. Pavani Verma, Adv.
Ms. Kajal Dalal, AOR
Ms. Divya Roy, AOR
Ms. Shagun Matta, AOR
Mr. Vinay Garg, AOR
Mr. Anil Kumar, AOR
Mr. Rakesh Kumar-I, AOR
Mr. Pukhrambam Ramesh Kumar, AOR
Mr. Karun Sharma, Adv.
Ms. Anupama Ngangom, Adv.
Ms. Rajkumari Divyasana, Adv.
Mr. Vikrant Singh Bais, AOR
Ms. Neeru Vaid, AOR
Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.G.
Ms. Suhasini Sen, Adv.
Mr. Rajesh K. Singh, Adv.
Mr. Shubhranshu Padhi, Adv.
Mr. Gaurang Bhushan, Adv.
Mr. Raghav Sharma, Adv.
Ms. Kanu Agrawal, Adv.
Mr. Bhuvan Kapoor, Adv.
Mr. Varun Chugh, Adv.
Mr. Krishna Kant Dubey, Adv.
Ms. Indira Bhakar, Adv.
Mr. Jagdish Chandra, Adv.
Mr. Shreekant Neelappa Terdal, AOR
Mr. Saurabh Agrawal, AOR
Mr. Devansh Srivastava, AOR
Mr. Shekhar Kumar, AOR
M/S. S. Narain & Co., AOR
Ms. Aswathi M.k., AOR
Mr. Neeraj Shekhar, AOR
Mr. Rajesh Kumar Maurya, Adv.
10
Mr. Ramendra Vikram Singh, Adv.
Mr. Ujjwal Ashutosh, Adv.
Ms. Lubna Naaz, AOR
Mr. Nishant Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Parminder Singh Bhullar, AOR
Mr. Chandrakant Sukumar Sarkar, Adv.
Mr. Naveen Yadav, Adv.
Mr. Mukesh Kumar Singh, Adv.
Mr. Narendra Kumar Goyal, Adv.
Mr. Ikshit Singhal, Adv.
Mr. Jeetendra Kumar, Adv.
Ms. Kajal Rani, Adv.
Mr. C M Dwivedi, Adv.
For M/S. Mukesh Kumar Singh And Co., AOR
Mr. Alok Gupta, AOR
Mr. K. V. Mohan, AOR
Mr. Yash S. Vijay, AOR
Mr. Debdeep Banerjee, Adv.
M/s Lex Regis Law Offices, AOR
Ms. Jaikriti S. Jadeja, AOR
Mr. Rajan Narain, AOR
Mr. Gaurav, AOR
Mr. T. R. B. Sivakumar, AOR
Mr. Mohit Paul, AOR
Mr. Shalen Bhardwaj, Adv.
Mr. Virender Kumar, Adv.
Ms. Garima Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Ashok Kumar Panigrahi, Adv.
Ms. Banisha Verma, Adv.
Ms. Lakshmi, Adv.
Mr. Nischal Kumar Neeraj, AOR
Ms. Deepanwita Priyanka, AOR
Ms. Ankita Sharma, AOR
Mr. Arjun D.S., Adv.
Mr. Kumar Dushyant Singh, AOR
Mr. A. Venayagam Balan, AOR
11
Mr. S. S. Shroff, AOR
Ms. Astha Tyagi, AOR
Mr. Shiv Mangal Sharma, A.A.G.
Ms. Nidhi Jaswal, Adv.
Mr. Sandeep Kumar Jha, AOR
M/S. M. V. Kini & Associates, AOR
Ms. Manju Jetley, AOR
Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.G.
Mr. Chitransh Sharma, Adv.
Mr. Chitrangda Rastravara, Adv.
Ms. Shivika Mehra, Adv.
Mr. Madhav Sinhal, Adv.
Mr. Chitvan Singhal, Adv.
Mr. Kanu Agrawal, Adv.
Mr. Arvind Kumar Sharma, Aor, Adv.
Mr. Amrish Kumar, AOR
Mr. Nishit Agrawal, AOR
Mr. Raghvendra Kumar, AOR
Mr. Anando Mukherjee, AOR
Ms. Filza Moonis, AOR
Mr. Divyanshu Kumar Srivastava, AOR
Mr. Rajiv Yadav, AOR
Ms. Madhumita Bhattacharjee, AOR
Ms. Debarati Sadhu, Adv.
Mr. Anant, Adv.
Ms. Yoowanka Rymbai, Adv.
Mr. Ayush Sharma, AOR
Mr. Gopal Jha, AOR
Mr. Pradeep Misra, AOR
Mr. Daleep Dhyani, Adv.
Mr. Anupam Misra, Adv.
Mr. Suraj Singh, Adv.
Mr. Manish Kumar, AOR
Mr. Ravi Shanker Jha, Adv.
Mr. Harsh V. Surana, AOR
12
Mr. Veer Vikrant Sing, D.A.G.
Mr. Yashraj Singh Bundela, AOR
Mr. Ramesh Thakur, Adv.
Ms. Saloni, Adv.
Mr. Arpit Garg, Adv.
Mr. Dhruv Sharma, Adv.
Mr. Pulkit Agarwal, AOR
Mr. S S Bandyopadhyay, Adv.
Mr. Syed Miran Ahmad, Adv.
Mr. Abhaya Nath Das, Adv.
Mrs. Barnali Basak, Adv.
Ms. Riya Soni, Adv.
Ms. Anjana Sharma, Adv.
Mr. Om Prakash, Adv.
Ms. Swati Mishra, Adv.
Ms. Swagoti Batchas, Adv.
Ms. Arina Bhattacharjee, Adv.
Mr. Boya Kranthi Naidu, Adv.
Mr. Kishor Kumar Mishra, Adv.
Dr. Aditya Mishra, Adv.
Ms. Sitara Yadav, Adv.
Mr. Om Prakash Sapra, Adv.
Mr. Mohammed Abrar Ahmed Khan, Adv.
Mr. Satish Kumar, AOR
Ms. Ameyavikrama Thanvi , AOR
Ms. K. Enatoli Sema, AOR
Mr. Amit Kumar Singh, Adv.
Ms. Chubalemla Chang, Adv.
Mr. Prang Newmai, Adv.
Mr. Anas Tanwir, AOR
Ms. Puja Sharma, AOR
Mr. Shishir Deshpande, AOR
Mr. D. Kumanan, AOR
Ms. Rakhi Ray, AOR
Ms. Ishita Jain, AOR
Mr. Manish Kumar Gupta, AOR
Mr. Sravan Kumar Karanam, AOR
Ms. P. Geetanjali, Adv.
Mr. M. P. Devanath, AOR
13
Ms. Ruchi Kohli, Sr. Adv.
Ms. Srishti Mishra, Adv.
Mr. Sumeet Mishra, Adv.
Mr. R. C. Kohli, AOR
Mr. Rishi Matoliya, AOR
Mr. Anurag Kishore, AOR
Ms. Mayuri Raghuvanshi, AOR
Mr. Neeraj Kumar Gupta, AOR
Ms. Pritha Srikumar Iyer, AOR
Ms. Rooh-e-hina Dua, AOR
Ms. Vrinda Bhandari, AOR
Ms. Charu Mathur, AOR
Mr. Shrirang B. Varma, Adv.
Mr. Siddharth Dharmadhikari, Adv.
Mr. Aaditya Aniruddha Pande, AOR
UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following
O R D E R
IN RE: STRENGTHENING AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT, MONITORING NETWORK, ENFORCEMENT AND VACANCIES IN SPCBS
1. We have heard Ms. Aparajita Singh, learned Senior Advocate appointed as Amicus Curiae on the suggestions for strengthening air quality governance. We have perused paragraph 10 of the Note filed by the learned Amicus Curiae for hearing on 23.04.2024, wherein she has incorporated the issues on which directions of this Court are required. Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, learned ASG, seeks time to respond to the same. We will also hear the NCR States on these directions on 8th May, 2025 at 12:00 noon.
2. The other issue regarding filling-in of the vacant posts in State Pollution Control Boards will be also considered on 8th May, 2025.
14 IN RE: SOLID WASTE MANAGMENT AND GRIEVANCE REDRESSAL MECHANISM
3. We have heard the learned Amicus Curiae on the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 (for short, “the 2016 Rules”). She has rightly emphasised on achieving the target of 100 per cent segregation of waste within the fixed timelines and 100 per cent collection of solid waste by 31st December, 2025.
4. We clarify that the directions which we propose to issue today will supplement the directions already issued against the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (for short, “the MCD”) by our earlier order dated 8th April, 2025 and, therefore, the directions will be in addition to what is already directed.
5. As far as 100 per cent segregation of waste is concerned, we have dealt with the issue while dealing with the compliance by the MCD of the 2016 Rules. As achieving this target is of immense importance, we direct the States of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh as well as the MCD to designate high ranking officers as nodal officers to supervise the compliance activities of achieving 100 per cent segregation of waste. The same nodal officers shall also supervise the target of achieving 100 per cent collection of solid waste. As far as the MCD is concerned, it has laid down the timelines for achieving this target. However, the other NCR States have not done so. Therefore, we direct the states of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh to fix an outer limit for achieving the target of 100 per cent collection of solid waste. The nodal officers dealing with both the issues (100 per cent segregation of waste and 100 per cent collection of solid 15 waste) shall file regular compliance reports starting from 1 st September, 2025. After every quarter, compliance reports shall be filed by the nodal officers in this Court. As and when the compliance reports are filed, the Registrar (Judicial) of this Court shall ensure that the same are placed before the appropriate Bench dealing with the case.
6. For implementation of the 2016 Rules, it is necessary to ensure that the penalties are imposed in case of non-compliances. Unless proper publicity is given to the provisions of the 2016 Rules and the penalties provided therein for non-compliance, the provisions of the 2016 Rules cannot be effectively implemented. Therefore, we direct that the NCR States as well as the MCD to undertake a massive awareness campaign about the provisions of the 2016 Rules. Needless to add that in the awareness campaign, publicity shall be given to the existing grievance redressal mechanism which can be used by the citizens to lodge complaints about the breaches or non-compliances with the 2016 Rules. We direct the NCR States and the MCD to report compliance with the above direction as well as to produce data before the Court regarding the penalties imposed and recovered so far.
7. There is another important issue flagged by the learned Amicus Curiae. She has rightly submitted that the activity of recycling the product from the construction and dust waste must be incentivized. Her submission is that the rate of GST should be reduced to minimum or ideally zero. We direct the Union of India to consider this aspect by placing it before the appropriate authority. We recommend that this activity needs to be 16 incentivized which will help the cause of environment protection.
8. As regards commissioning of the landfill facilities in MCD area is concerned, at this stage, no further directions are required in view of what was observed in the order dated 8 th April, 2025.
9. The other issue which remains as regards the MCD is of formation of the Standing Committee. On this aspect, we propose to issue directions after hearing the concerned parties on 08 th May 2025 at 12 noon.
10. On the issue of solid waste management, we may note here that this Court is dealing with the issues which arise at present. Considering the large-scale construction/development projects in the NCR region, the generation of the municipal solid waste is bound to be multiplied and, therefore, all the NCR States must make a realistic assessment of the expected generation of municipal solid waste in the next 25 years so that all the authorities will be in the state of preparedness to deal with the ever-increasing quantum of municipal solid waste generated in the cities. We direct the Governments of the NCR States to file affidavits on or before 1st September, 2025 dealing with the steps taken in this behalf. We make it clear that the affidavits shall give data of all the local authorities falling within the jurisdiction of the respective States which are in the NCR region. As far as these directions are concerned, we direct that all the affidavits shall be filed by the nodal officers who shall be responsible for providing copies to the office of the learned Amicus Curiae as well as the learned counsel appearing for the respective parties. 17
11. At this stage, we may also note that the learned senior counsel appearing for the Greater NOIDA Industrial Development Authority pointed out that in the affidavit of compliance filed on 4th April, 2025, the Authority has stated that an action is being taken to ensure that by the end of August 2025, legacy waste will be reduced to zero. We hope and trust that this target is achieved by the Authority.
12. As far as the issue of Waste to Energy Plants is concerned, the Central Pollution Control Board by filing an affidavit dated 22nd April, 2025 has sought time of one month to make compliance. We, accordingly, grant time of one month to the Central Pollution Control Board to make compliance from 22nd April, 2025. At this stage, the learned Amicus Curiae has invited our attention to a letter dated 12th February, 2025 addressed by the Member Secretary of the Central Pollution Control Board to the State Pollution Control Boards. She has invited our attention to page 03 of the said letter and has raised concerns about a new category mentioned therein. To enable the learned ASG to seek clarification, this aspect will be considered on 8th May, 2025 at 12:00 noon. IN RE: CONSTRUCTION AND ROAD DUST
13. As regards the issue of prosecutions concerning violation of the Construction and Demolition Waste Rules of 2016, a compliance report dated 25th March, 2025 has been filed by the Commission for Air Quality Management (for short, “the CAQM”), in which, paragraphs 8 to 10 are relevant. It is stated that the Member Secretaries of the NCR State Pollution Control Boards/DPCC have 18 been authorised to file prosecutions under the Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR & Adjoining Areas Act, 2021 (for short, “the CAQM”) where area of a plot is more than 500 square metre. As regards the plots having an area of less than 500 square metre, by a statutory direction dated 2nd January, 2025, the authorities in the ULBs concerned have been empowered to file prosecutions under the CAQM Act. We direct the CAQM to call for the data of the action taken by the concerned authorities in terms of paragraphs 8 and 9 of the compliance report dated 25th March, 2025 filed by the CAQM. The CAQM shall compile the data up to 31 st July 2025 and file an affidavit by 1st September, 2025. While filing the affidavit on 1st September, 2025, the CAQM will give categorised data indicating the number of complaints filed against the private individuals and the number of complaints filed against the Government entities.
14. As regards the compliance with the 2016 Rules, the same will be considered on 8th May, 2025.
IA NOS.194489/2024 (FOR IMPLEADMENT) AND IA NO.194490/2024 (SEEKING PERMISSION FOR REGISTRATION OF FIRE TENDER VEHICLE HAVING BS-IV ENGINE)
15. List on 8th May, 2025 at 12:00 noon.
(ASHISH KONDLE) (AVGV RAMU)
ASTT. REGISTRAR-cum-PS COURT MASTER (NSH)
19