E-Paper
Supreme Court stays ₹1,000 crore penalty on Punjab for waste management failures
The July 25 order of the National Green Tribunal had come down hard on Punjab’s persistent non-compliance with waste management laws
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) order that imposed a ₹1,000 crore penalty on the Punjab government for its failure to manage solid and liquid waste effectively.
A bench led by Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud suspended the NGT’s July 25 order, which also demanded explanation from the state chief secretary and other senior officials why they should not be proceeded against for defying the tribunal’s directives.
The bench, also comprising justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, admitted the appeal filed by the Punjab government against the NGT’s order. Senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi appeared for the state.
The NGT’s order had come down hard on Punjab’s persistent non-compliance with waste management laws, holding the state responsible for repeatedly failing to address critical environmental concerns despite several warnings. The July 25 decision also lamented gaps in the management of legacy waste and untreated sewage in the state.
The tribunal calculated the penalty based on violations over the past six months, noting that Punjab had generated approximately 5.387 million tonnes of legacy waste, and that a significant gap of 314.06 million litres per day remained in the state’s sewage treatment capacity as of June 2024.
Labelling the situation as a grave environmental hazard, NGT ordered the Punjab government to deposit the penalty amount with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) within a month. The tribunal had fixed September 27 as the next date of hearing.
