Supreme Court - Daily Orders
M.C. Mehta vs Union Of India on 3 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) 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, ADVOCATES)
Date : 03-10-2024 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. Siddhartha Chowdhury,Adv. (Amicus Curiae)
Ms. Shibani ghosh,Adv.
Mr. Aditya Bharat Manubarwala,Adv.
For the parties:
Mrs. Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.G.
Mrs. Archana Pathak Dave, A.S.G.
Ms. Ruchi Kohli,Sr.Adv.
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. Gurmeet Singh Makker, AOR
Signature Not Verified
Ms. Suhashinin Sen, Adv.
Digitally signed by
Anita Malhotra
Date: 2024.10.05
15:55:44 IST
Reason: Mr. P. K. Jain, AOR
1
Mr. Ramesh Babu M. R., AOR
Mr. Rajesh Kumar Chaurasia, AOR
Applicant-in-person
Petitioner-in-person
Mr. Ajit Pudussery, AOR
Mrs. Bina Gupta, AOR
Mr. Rakesh K. Sharma, AOR
Ms. Sujeeta Srivastava, AOR
Mr. Alok Gupta, AOR
Mr. Anil Kumar Jha, AOR
Mr. Mukesh K. Giri, AOR
Mr. Mandaar Mukesh Giri, Adv.
Mr. Aakash Shankar, Adv.
Mr. L.K. Giri, Adv.
Mr. Kautilya Sharma, Adv.
M/S. Parekh & Co., AOR
Mr. Sudhir Mendiratta, 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
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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
Mr. Sushil Kumar Jain, AOR
Mr. Aniruddha Deshmukh, AOR
Mr. Ravindra Bana, AOR
Mr. Surya Kant, AOR
Mrs. B. Sunita Rao, AOR
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. Rakesh Kumar-i, AOR
Mr. Parijat Sinha, AOR
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M/S. Saharya & Co., AOR
Mr. Nishe Rajen Shonker, AOR
Mrs. Anu K Joy, Adv.
Mr. Alim Anvar, Adv.
Mr. Ajith Anto Perumbully, Adv.
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. Dhananjay Kataria, Adv.
Mr. Ejaz Maqbool, AOR
Ms. Menaka Guruswamy, Sr. Adv.
Mr. S. Wasim A Quadri, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Praveen Swarup, AOR
Mr. Utkarsh Pratap, Adv.
Ms. Arunima Das, Adv.
Mr. Devadipta Das, Adv.
Mr. Devesh Maurya, Adv.
Mr. Ravi Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Prashant Kumar, AOR
Mrs. Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.G.
Mrs. Archna Pathak Dave, A.S.G.
Mr. Wasim Quadri, Sr. Adv.
Mrs. Ruchi Kohli, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Mukesh Kumar Maroria, AOR
Mrs. Suhasini Sen, Adv.
Mr. Rajesh Kr. Singh, Adv.
Mr. Subhranshu Padhi, Adv.
Mr. S S Rebello, Adv.
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
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Mr. Ashok Mathur, AOR
Mr. V. K. Verma, AOR
Ms. Pritha Srikumar Iyer, AOR
Mr. Arjun D Singh, Adv.
Ms. Ankita Sharma, 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
Mr. Chandrakant Sukumar Sarkar, Adv.
Mr. Mukesh Kumar Singh, Adv.
Mr. C M Dwivedi, Adv.
Mr. Ikshit Singhal, Adv.
Mr. Maneesh Saxena, Adv.
For M/S. Mukesh Kumar Singh And Co., AOR
Mr. Mukesh Verma, Adv.
Mr. Pankaj Kumar Singh, Adv.
Mr. Vatsala Tripathi, Adv.
Mr. Yash Pal Dhingra, AOR
Mr. Ashutosh Dubey, AOR
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. Anirban Tripathy, Adv.
Mr. Rajendra Anbhule, Adv.
Mr. Manish Dhingra, Adv.
Mr. Pratham Mehrotra, Adv.
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Mr. Anando Mukherjee, AOR
Mr. Chandra Prakash, AOR
Mr. Anuj Bhandari, AOR
Mr. Anil Kumar, AOR
Ms. Lubna Naaz, AOR
Ms. Shashi Kiran, AOR
Ms. Aastha Mehta, Adv.
Ms. Deepanwita Priyanka, AOR
Ms. Prerana Mohapatra, Adv.
Mr. Raghvendra Kumar, AOR
Mr. Pulkit Agarwal, AOR
M/S. Karanjawala & Co., AOR
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
Ms. Akansha Sharma,Adv.
Ms. Baby Rajput,Adv.
Mr. Mohit Paul, AOR
Mr. Nischal Kumar Neeraj, AOR
Mr. Shalen Bhardwaj, Adv.
Mr. Ashok Kumar Panigrahi, Adv.
Ms. Lakshmi, 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. Gaurav, AOR
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Mr. Anand Kumar Shrivastava, Adv.
Mr. Ankit Bhandari, Adv.
Ms. Ishita Jain, AOR
Mr. Shuvodeep Roy, AOR
Mr. Deepayan Dutta, Adv.
Mr. Saurabh Tripathi, Adv.
Ms. Divya Jyoti Singh, AOR
Mr. Harsh Rathore, Adv.
Mr. Vinay Garg, AOR
Mr. T. R. B. Sivakumar, AOR
Ms. Manju Jetley, AOR
Mr. Amrish Kumar, AOR
Mr. Harsh V. Surana, AOR
Ms. Rakhi Ray, AOR
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. Manoj Kumar Sharma, 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
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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 Narain, Adv.
Ms. Kanak Malik, Adv.
For M/S. S. Narain & Co., AOR
Mr. Sandeep Kumar Jha, AOR
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. Gurminder Singh,AG Punjab, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Vivek Jain, D.A.G.
Mr. Prashant Manchanda, A.A.G.
Mr. Karan Sharma, AOR
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Mr. Shekhar Kumar, AOR
Mr. Rajan Narain, AOR
Mr. Ayush Sharma, AOR
Mr. Anurag Kishore, AOR
Ms. Mayuri Raghuvanshi, AOR
Ms. Purnima Jauhari, AOR
Dr. Brij Bhushan K Jauhari, Adv.
Mr. Deepak Jyoti Ghildiyal, Adv.
Mr. O.p.singh, Adv.
Mr. Satya Vir Singh Rana, Adv.
Mr. Atul Mahan, Adv.
Mr. Hiren Dasan, AOR
Mr. Ajay Vikram Singh, AOR
Mr. K. Paari Vendhan, AOR
Mr. Sameer Abhyankar, AOR
Mr. Aakash Thakur, Adv.
Mr. Rahul Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Aryan Srivastava, Adv.
Ms. Aryan Srivastava, Adv.
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.
Mrs. Usha Prabakaran, Adv.
Mr. Maheswaran Prabakaran, Adv.
For M/S. Ram Sankar & Co, AOR
Ms. Malvika Kapila, AOR
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Mr. Gaurav Kejriwal, AOR
Mr. Rahul Khurana, AOR
Mr. S. S. Shroff, AOR
Ms. Madhumita Bhattacharjee, AOR
Ms. Debarati Sadhu, Adv.
Ms. Srija Choudhury, Adv.
Mr. Anant, 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. Ravindra Kumar, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Binay Kumar Das, AOR
Mr. Vipin Kumar Saxena,Adv.
Ms. Priyanka Das, Adv.
Ms. Neha Das, Adv.
Mr. Shivam Saxena, Adv.
Mr. Vikas Bharti, Adv.
Mr. Rajiv Yadav, AOR
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
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Mr. Gaurav Choudhary, AOR
Mr. Guntur Pramod Kumar, AOR
Ms. Prerna Singh, Adv.
Mr. Keshav Singh, 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. Talha Abdul Rahman, AOR
Mr. Prashant Singh, AOR
Mrs. Prerna Dhall, Adv.
Mr. Piyush Yadav, Adv.
Ms. Akanksha Singh, Adv.
Mr. M. P. Devanath, AOR
Ms. Ruchi Kohli, Sr. Adv.
Ms. Srishti Mishra, Adv.
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. Sameer Shrivastava, AOR
Mr. Pranav Sachdeva, AOR
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Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.G.
Ms. Archana Pathak Dave, 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
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
Mr. Shariq Ahmed, Adv.
For M/S. Ahmadi Law Offices, AOR
Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.G.
Ms. Archana Pathak Dave, A.S.G.
Ms. Suhashini Sen, Adv.
Mr. Subhranshu Padhi, Adv.
Mr. Gaurang Bhushan, Adv.
Mr. Raghav Sharma, Adv.
Mr. Kanu Agrawal, Adv.
Mr. Bhuvan Kapoor, Adv.
Mr. Rajesh Kumar Singh, Adv.
Mr. Shreekant Neelappa Terdal, AOR
Mr. Varun Chugh, Adv.
Mr. Krishna Kant Dubey, Adv.
Mr. Indira Bhakar, Adv.
Ms. Surabhi Sanchita, AOR
Mr. Vinod Sharma, AOR
Dr. Ram Sankar, Adv.
Mrs. Harini Ramsankar, Adv.
Mrs. Usha Prabakaran, Adv.
Mr. Maheswaran Prabakaran, Adv.
For M/S. Ram Sankar & Co, AOR
Mr. Mahfooz Ahsan Nazki, AOR
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Mr. Vinodh Kanna B., AOR
Mr. Sandeep Singh, AOR
Ms. N. Annapoorani, AOR
Mr. S. Gowthaman, AOR
Ms. Neeru Vaid, AOR
Mr. K. V. Mohan, AOR
Mr. Vivek Gupta, AOR
Mr. Vinay Garg, AOR
Ms. G. Indira, AOR
Mr. Sagar Roy,Adv.
Mr. Anki Kashyap,Adv.
Mr. Sunil Kumar,Adv.
Mr. Usman Khan,Adv.
Mr. Prem Chand Kumar,Adv.
Mr. Onkar Singh,Adv.
Mr. Darshan C.Siddarkar,Adv.
Ms. Baby Singh,Adv.
Mr. Vinod Kumar Srivastava,Adv.
Mr. Subhro Sanyal, AOR
Ms. Misha Rohatgi, AOR
Mr. Ravi Prakash, AOR
Mr. Pukhrambam Ramesh Kumar, AOR
Mr. Karun Sharma, Adv.
Ms. Anupama Ngangom, Adv.
Ms. Rajkumari Divyasana, Adv.
Mr. R.rajaselvan, Adv.
Mr. Vikrant Singh Bais, AOR
Mr. Alok Gupta, AOR
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UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following
O R D E R
1. We have perused the detailed compliance report filed by the Commission for Air Quality Management (for short, "the Commission").
2. Our attention is invited to exercise of powers under Section 12 of the Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Act, 2021 (for short, "the Act"). The first effective direction was issued by the Commission on 10th June, 2021 which deals with various issues concerning the problem of stubble burning. It provides for setting up machinery at various levels. For example, clause (14) deals with effective monitoring/enforcement. Clause (14) contains very exhaustive provisions. Neither the State of Haryana nor the State of Punjab have placed on record any document showing the efforts made to comply with binding directions issued by the Commission. There is one more direction issued on 12th April, 2024.. We find from the compliance affidavit filed by the Commission that no effort is made by the Commission to secure implementation of its own directions.
3. There is a Sub-Committee on Safeguarding and Enforcement. The last meeting of the Sub-Committee was held on 29th August, 2024 in which there is not even a discussion about implementation of the order dated 10th June, 2021. Though there is a specific direction in 14 the said order to prosecute the wrong-doers under Section 15 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, not a single prosecution has been launched. Notwithstanding the availability of the machines, the same are not being used.
4. There is an issue about the qualification of the expert members of the Commission which is addressed by Mr. Gopal Sankarnarayanan, the learned senior counsel by tendering a chart on record. If there are no true experts in the field of air pollution, this Court will have to exercise powers under Article 142 of the Constitution of India to include some experts in the field. Two posts of NGO Members are still kept vacant.
5. Notwithstanding the long affidavit filed by the Commission, we may note that in the meeting of the Sub- Committee on Safeguarding and Enforcement held on 29th August, 2024, only five out of 11 members were present, apart from the fact that the Committee did not discuss the implementation of the direction dated 10th June, 2021. This is how the Sub-Committees are functioning. The three Sub-Committees have held total 11 meetings in 9 months.
6. As regards the non-utilization of machines provided under the grant of the Central Government, the learned Advocate General appearing for the State of Punjab submits that those farmers who are holding lands having area of less than 10 hectares cannot afford to engage a 15 tractor with driver and spend money on diesel for using these machines. Therefore, a proposal was submitted for grant of funds to the Central Government so that tractor with driver and diesel could be provided to the small farmers. However, nothing is placed on record to show that any grant was sought for providing tractors with driver and diesel to the small farmers to enable them to operate the machines.
7. We may note here that even during last 15 days from 15th to 30th September, 2024, there were large number of incidents of illegal stubble burning. 129 were in Punjab and 81 were in Haryana. In some of the districts in Punjab and Haryana, the incidents of stubble burning have increased substantially as compared to 2023. However, all that the States have done is to recover nominal compensation from 42 and 45 farmers respectively.
8. As stated earlier, the Commission itself prima facie, does not seem to be making any efforts to follow up implementation of its own directions. Obviously, no steps are being taken by the Commission to monitor implementation of its own orders.
9. We, therefore, direct the State Governments of Punjab and Haryana to file the affidavits disclosing implementation made by them of the directions issued by the Commission and, in particular, directions dated 10th June, 2021 read with 12th April, 2024. The affidavits shall be filed within a period of ten days from today 16 which shall be considered on 16th October, 2024.
10. The State of Punjab will also place on record a proposal submitted earlier or a proposal submitted hereafter to the Central Government for release of funds. On 16th October, 2024, the Central Government and the Commission will have to make a statement about the expertise of three full time independent technical members appointed under Section 3(2)(e) of the Act. Similarly, the Central Government will have to explain why the post of two NGO members are kept vacant. Thirdly, the Central Government will have to satisfy us that the Chairperson has requisite qualifications as provided in Section 3(2)(a) of the Act.
11. We are putting all parties to notice that if we find that true experts in the field of air pollution are not part of the Commission, we may exercise our extra-ordinary jurisdiction under Article 142 of the Constitution of India to appoint some experts in the field as additional members.
12. The affidavits of compliances shall be filed within ten days from today.
13. We also direct the Commission to ensure that prompt steps are taken to implement its own orders by the State Governments and all other stakeholders. 17
14. The Commission shall give wide publicity by all methods, including publicity on social media to the availability of the Grievance Redressal Mechanism on which the citizens can file complaints.
15. List on 16th October, 2024.
(ANITA MALHOTRA) (AVGV RAMU)
AR-CUM-PS COURT MASTER
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