The Supreme Court of India has restrained from implementing ₹1,000 crore, which was imposed on the Punjab government by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) for the poor handling of solid & liquid wastes. This decision was taken on Friday by a bench headed by Chief Justice Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, because of which the order of NGT made on July 25 was stayed, which not only imposed the penalty but also issued a notice to the Chief Secretary of Punjab and some other senior officials for their failure in not implementing the directions of the tribunal.
The bench at the Supreme Court, which comprised JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, agreed to the appeal filed by the Punjab government against the NGT’s decision. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, the senior counsel, argued and defended the state of Maharashtra in this case.
The NGT had, in the initial order, expressed its displeasure over the continued non-compliance with the directions on waste management by Punjab and even scathing that, despite several directions having been passed in relation to certain important environmental issues, over and over again, the state remained deafening to such rulings. The tribunal raised concerns over the poor management of legacy waste and untreated sewage in the state, and it stated that as far as June 2024 was concerned, Punjab had produced roughly over 5.387 million tonnes of historic waste. Also, the NGT has pointed out inadequate sewage treatment facilities in the state; it was found that the state lacks a treatment capacity of 314.06 million liters per day.
It described the situation as a severe environmental threat and required the Punjab government to deposit the imposed penalty before the CCB through the CPCB within a month. The NGT had fixed the next date of hearing for September 27, which only pointed towards the seriousness of the issue in question. The Supreme Court’s stay now enables the Punjab government to challenge the penalty while at the same time revealing how the Judicial System also has a part to play in reconsidering the enforcement of environmental regulations.
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