1998 JTR(SC) 702
1998 AIR(SC) 2963 ; 1998 AIR(SCW) 2813 ; 1998 4 CompLJ 16 ; 1998 74 DLT 561 ; 1998 5 JT 211 ; 1998 4 Scale 326 ; 1998 6 SCC 63 ; 1998 3 SCR 918 ; 1998 2 UJ 652 ; 1998 KHC 1062 ; 1998 6 Supreme 172
1998(6) Supreme 172
Supreme Court of India
(Civil Original Jurisdiction)
Dr. A.S. Anand, B.N. Kirpal and V.N. Khare, JJ.
M.C. Mehta -Petitioner
versus
Union of India & Ors. -Respondents.
Writ Petition (C) No. 13029 of 1986
With
Writ Petition No. 939 of 1996
Decided on 28-7-1998
Counsel for the Parties :
For the Appearing Parties : Altaf Ahmed, Additional Solicitor General, Harish N. Salve, Sr. Advocate (A.C.), P.P. Malhotra, Shanti Bhushan, K. Parasaran, Sr. Advocates, Uday Umesh Lalit, Manoj Prasad, Kailash Vasdev, Mrs. Indira Sawhney, Arvind K. Sharma, Mrs. Anubha Jain, Mrs. K.P. Mittal, Mrs. Niranjana Singh, Wasim A. Quadri, Mrs. Anil Katiyar, Ms. Smitha Inna, D.S. Mehra, Pramod B. Agarwala, Ms. Praveena Gautam, Aruneshwar Gupta, Srilok Nath Rath, Shri Narain, Sandeep Narain, Sushil Kumar Jain, A.P. Dhamija, Ms. Kiran, Ms. Arpita Roy Choudhary, Sanjay Katyal, Vineet Kumar, (Rajeev Dutta) Advocate (NP), (M.A. Chinnaswamy,) Advocate (NP), R.P. Gupta, R. Sasiprabhu, R.K. Maheshwari, Ashok Mathur, Ranjit Kumar, Ejaz Maqbool, Hardeep Singh Anand, Vijay Panjwani, Anis Ahmed Khan, L.K. Pandey, S.B. Upadhyay, S.R. Setia, Sanjay Parikh, Mahabir Singh and Dinesh Kumar Garg, Advocates.
Act Referred :CONSTITUTION OF INDIA : Art.32, Art.47, Art.48(a), Art.144, Art.21
(A) The judgment invokes the constitutional powers under Article 32 read with Article 47, Article 48(a), Article 144, and Article 21 to address the grave public health and environmental crisis posed by vehicular pollution in Delhi. The Court emphasizes the States duty under Article 47 to protect and improve the environment and safeguard public health, leveraging Article 144 to ensure strict compliance with its directions. The timeline references a White Paper proposing action by 1st April 1998, and the Courts repeated directions through affidavits and the Bhure Lal Committee report underscore the urgency and the failure to implement measures within a reasonable time frame, invoking contempt powers to enforce adherence.
(B) Key legal principles include the precautionary principle and sustainable development through environmental protection, strict enforcement of timelines for pollution control measures, non-delegation of State obligations, and the use of contempt powers to ensure compliance with judicial directives.
Facts of the case:
The Court has been monitoring vehicular pollution in Delhi for an extended period, during which multiple affidavits were filed promising phased implementation of measures. Despite the publication of a White Paper with deadlines and the constitution of a high-level committee, significant action has not been taken, and air quality continues to deteriorate due to vehicular emissions.
Findings of Court:
The Court found an apathetic attitude by the State Administration and noted that less than substantial progress has been made. It observed that immediate steps are necessary to curb air pollution and accepted the committees recommendations as a basis for interim and long-term measures.
Issues:
Whether the State has complied with its constitutional and judicial obligations to address vehicular pollution; whether the Court can enforce timelines and directions through contempt proceedings; and what specific measures are required immediately and over the medium term.
Ratio Decidendi:
When public health and the environment are at stake and statutory deadlines have been missed, the Court can issue specific, time-bound directions and enforce them through contempt powers, compelling authorities to implement measures without further delay.
Result:
The Court directs the implementation of specific measures by fixed dates, approves the Bhure Lal Committees action plan, and warns of contempt action for non-compliance.
(A) The judgment invokes the constitutional powers under Article 32 read with Article 47, Article 48(a), Article 144, and Article 21 to address the grave public health and environmental crisis posed by vehicular pollution in Delhi. The Court emphasizes the States duty under Article 47 to protect and improve the environment and safeguard public health, leveraging Article 144 to ensure strict compliance with its directions. The timeline references a White Paper proposing action by 1st April 1998, and the Courts repeated directions through affidavits and the Bhure Lal Committee report underscore the urgency and the failure to implement measures within a reasonable time frame, invoking contempt powers to enforce adherence.
(B) Key legal principles include the precautionary principle and sustainable development through environmental protection, strict enforcement of timelines for pollution control measures, non-delegation of State obligations, and the use of contempt powers to ensure compliance with judicial directives.
Facts of the case:
The Court has been monitoring vehicular pollution in Delhi for an extended period, during which multiple affidavits were filed promising phased implementation of measures. Despite the publication of a White Paper with deadlines and the constitution of a high-level committee, significant action has not been taken, and air quality continues to deteriorate due to vehicular emissions.
Findings of Court:
The Court found an apathetic attitude by the State Administration and noted that less than substantial progress has been made. It observed that immediate steps are necessary to curb air pollution and accepted the committees recommendations as a basis for interim and long-term measures.
Issues:
Whether the State has complied with its constitutional and judicial obligations to address vehicular pollution; whether the Court can enforce timelines and directions through contempt proceedings; and what specific measures are required immediately and over the medium term.
Ratio Decidendi:
When public health and the environment are at stake and statutory deadlines have been missed, the Court can issue specific, time-bound directions and enforce them through contempt powers, compelling authorities to implement measures without further delay.
Result:
The Court directs the implementation of specific measures by fixed dates, approves the Bhure Lal Committees action plan, and warns of contempt action for non-compliance.
Order
Realising the urgency and importance of protection and improvement of the environment, this Court has given directions from time to time and impressed upon the authorities to take urgent steps to tackle the acute problem of vehicular pollution in Delhi. Assurances have been held out to the Court through various affidavits filed by the competent officers that effective steps shall be taken in a phased manner within a specified time span. Inspite of the matter having engaged the attention of this Court for a long time and lengthy debates on each hearing, precious little appear to have been done by the State Administration to check and control the vehicular pollution. We are rather distressed at this apathy of the State Administration, when according to the White Paper published by the Government of India, the vehicular pollution contributes 70% of the air pollution as compared to 20% in 1970. In the White Paper published by the Government of India, a dead line of 1st April, 1998 had been proposed for implementation of major actions. No concrete steps have however, been taken till date in spite of the assurances held out in the affidavit dated November 18, 1996.
We find from the report submitted by the Authority appointed vide Gazette Notification dated 29th January, 1998 that none of the major actions, as proposed, has been implemented. The Authority headed by Shri Bhure Lal has also proposed certain measures for immediate improvement of air quality and has given a time frame but for the time being we are not engaging our attention to that time frame. We are, however, of the view that to arrest the growing pollution of air certain steps need to be taken immediately We, therefore, direct :-
1. Implementation of directions to restrict plying of commercial vehicles including taxis, which are 15 years old, by 2nd October, 1998.
2. Restriction on plying of goods vehicles during the day time shall be strictly enforced by 15th August, 1998.
3. Expansion of pre-mixed oil dispensors (petrol and 2T oil) shall be undertaken by 31st December, 1998.
4. Ban on supply of loose 2T oils at petrol stations and service garages shall be enforced by 31st December, 1998.
The Committee headed by Shri Bhure Lal has also proposed the following measures within the time frame in its action taken report filed in the Court.
Time frame
(A) Augmentation of public 1.4.2001 transport (stage carriage) to 10,000 buses.
(B) Elimination of leaded 1.9.1998 petrol from NCT Delhi as proposed by the Authority and agreed
to by the Ministry of
Petroleum and Natural
Gas.
(C) Supply of only pre-mix 31.12.1998 petrol in all petrol filling stations to two-stroke engine vehicles.
(D) Replacement of all pre 31.3.2000 1990 autos and taxis with new vehicles on clean fuels.
(E) Financial incentives for 31.3.2001 replacement of all post 1900 autos and taxis with new vehicles on clean fuels.
(F) No 8-year old buses to 1.4.2000 ply except on CNG or other clean fuels.
(G) Entire city bus fleet (DTC 31.3.2001 & Private) to be steadily converted to single fuel mode on CNG.
(H) New ISBTs to be built 31.3.2000 at entry points in North and South-West to avoid pollution due to entry of inter-state buses.
(I) GAIL to expedite and 31.3.2000
expand from 9 to 80 CNG supply outlets.
(J) Two independent fuel 1.6.1999 testing labs to be estab- lished.
(K) Automated inspection Immediate and maintenance facilities to be set up for commer- cial vehicles in the first phase.
(L) Comprehensive I/M pro- 31.3.2000 gramme to be started by transport department and private sector.
(M) CPCB/DPCC to set up 1.4.2000 new stations and streng- then existing air quality monitoring stations for critical pollutants.
We approve the directions given and the time frame fixed by Shri Bhure Lal Committee. The time frame, as fixed by that Committee and today by this Court, in consultation with learned counsel for the parties, shall be strictly adhered to by all the authorities who shall also take effective and adequate steps to bring, to the notice of the public, both through print and electronic media various directions issued by this Court from time to time in general and the directions hereinabove contained in particular. Report in this behalf shall be filed in the Court within four weeks. We, administer, a strong caution to all concerned that failure to abide by any of the directions hereinabove noticed would invite action under the Contempt of Courts Act against the defaulters.
(C.R.)
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