Legacy waste: HC notice on plea seeking perjury proceedings against MC officials

HC bench of chief justice RS Jha and justice Arun Palli acted on an application moved by Amit Sharma in an ongoing public interest litigation (PIL) on the issue of poor state of management of solid waste in city and failure of authorities to remove legacy waste

The Punjab and Haryana high court on Thursday issued a notice to the Chandigarh municipal corporation (MC) on a plea moved by a city resident seeking perjury proceedings against civic body officials for submitting “false information” in court.

The application alleges officials “knowingly and deliberately provided false and fabricated information on an affidavit” in the ongoing case.

HC bench of chief justice RS Jha and justice Arun Palli acted on an application moved by Amit Sharma in an ongoing public interest litigation (PIL) on the issue of poor state of management of solid waste in city and failure of authorities to remove legacy waste.

The application alleges officials “knowingly and deliberately provided false and fabricated information on an affidavit” in the ongoing case. The PIL by Sharma is pending adjudication before the high court since July 2021.

It alleges that such information was furnished with “the intention to deceive the court and led to the formation of an erroneous opinion on crucial matters pertaining to proceedings, which impact over 50,000 citizens in Dadumajra.”

In the latest report, the MC claimed that it had built a 1,200-metre long and 4.5-metre high wall around the dumping ground to give an aesthetic look and for leachate control. But “concealed” that boundary wall dividing the residential area and the garbage dump had collapsed at one point. Besides, leachate flow continued uninterrupted throughout the entire area despite the plant’s presence, the court has been told by showing the same through photos.

It was further submitted that since 2016, officers promised a solution to clear the legacy garbage but the area remains “uncleared, with the existing mountain of garbage still intact, and an additional mountain growing rapidly”.

The application further says corporation repeatedly filed action taken reports on affidavit containing inaccurate figures. The data presented before the National Green Tribunal and in these proceedings is also “conflicting”, he submitted adding that it was clear that the MC officials throughout the judicial proceedings had “knowingly and intentionally continued to file false information” before the court.