Supreme Court dismisses contempt plea against PMC chief over garbage processing plant

PMC’s advocate argued that the petition was a misuse of the court’s process and an attempt to re-litigate issues already settled by the apex court in its 2024 judgment.

Pune: The Supreme Court (SC) on Friday dismissed a contempt petition filed by the Sus Road Baner Vikas Manch against Pune municipal commissioner Naval Kishore Ram and two others over alleged non-compliance of its September 12, 2024 order that had allowed the Baner garbage processing plant to operate under strict conditions to curb odour and pollution.

(Shutterstock)

Appearing for the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), advocate Rahul Garg said the civic chief had filed a detailed counter-affidavit, providing a point-by-point rebuttal to the allegations raised in the contempt plea. He argued that the petition was a misuse of the court’s process and an attempt to re-litigate issues already settled by the apex court in its 2024 judgment.

On September 12, 2024, SC had quashed the National Green Tribunal’s October 27, 2020 order, directing closure of the plant, as well as its December 22, 2020 order, rejecting a review plea. The court had permitted PMC and concessionaire Noble Exchange Environmental Solutions LLP to continue operations, subject to compliance with measures designed to prevent odour to ensure surrounding residents were not affected.

Along with the PMC chief, the contempt petition had named National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) scientist Dr S Venkata Mohan and Noble Exchange official Nuriel Lakshman Pezarkar as contemnors.

In his counter-affidavit, the civic chief stated that PMC appointed NEERI on March 4, 2025, for a period of five years to conduct environmental audits of the plant every six months. He added that extensive steps had been taken to improve hygiene and control odour at the plant. Incoming waste is immediately segregated, converted into slurry, and transported the same day to the anaerobic digestion facility in Talegaon, ensuring no waste is stored on site. The misting system operates throughout the day, odour-control liquid is sprayed regularly, and reject waste is stored in a sealed portable compactor cleared by PMC.

The affidavit further stated that construction of a bitumen road to the segregation unit had been completed, while about 20% of work on the rejected enclosure remained pending due to a land dispute, before the Pune district court. On August 20, 2025, a court commissioner was appointed to measure Survey No 48 in Baner and demarcate the plant land to determine whether any encroachment had occurred.

Plaintiff’s advocate Satya Muley said, “The PMC relied on wrong documents. We are going back to Supreme Court within a month.” Local residents said they will comment only after reading the judgement in detail. Despite repeated attempts, HT could not contact the civic commissioner for his comment.