The Supreme Court on Wednesday took a tough stand regarding air pollution in NCR. The court has summoned the Chief Secretaries of Punjab and Haryana in the stubble burning case. The top court also strongly reprimanded both the states for not prosecuting those who broke the law. The court says that Punjab and Haryana have imposed only nominal fines against violators in the last 3 years.
Justice Abhay S Oak, Justice AG Masih and Justice A Amanullah, who are hearing the case, have also reprimanded CAQM i.e. Commission for Air Quality Management. The court termed CAQM as ‘toothless’ and said that it was unable to enforce its own orders.
Justice Oak said, ‘Who has appeared on behalf of Punjab and Haryana? No member of the Commission is qualified to deal with matters related to air pollution. The order was not followed at all. Also see our previous order of June 10th. Not a single case has been filed so far. Everything is only on paper. On this the lawyer said that 17 FIRs have been registered this year.
The court said, ‘But all this happened under some provision of BNS. Not in the provision that is needed. We are telling you very clearly. We give you 1 week’s time and if not complied with, we will issue contempt order against the Chief Secretary. Why are you shying away from suing people?
The Supreme Court also mentioned ISRO i.e. Indian Space Research Organization. The court said that ISRO is telling you where the fire broke out, but you are saying that nothing was found. Justice Oak said, ‘There were 191 cases of violations and only nominal fines were imposed…. Haryana completely disregarded it. The court also surrounded Punjab with the situation of stubble.
Justice Oak said, ‘This is not a political matter. If the Chief Secretary is working on someone’s instructions, we will summon him also. Next Wednesday we will personally call the Chief Secretary and explain everything. Didn’t do anything. Same is the condition of Punjab also. This attitude is completely disregardful.
The top court directed the Punjab Chief Secretary to appear before it on October 23 and explain the non-compliance.
