New Delhi, Nov 18: The Supreme Court Thursday said that adherence to environmental and pollution norms cannot be compromised for factual misunderstandings or due to “cryptic
determination”. It also said the public interest would warrant action against polluting units and orders which have direct repercussions on the right to a clean environment must be the outcome of scrutiny and substantive deliberation as per the applicable facts.
The top court observed while setting aside an order of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) which had said that an application pending before it does not require adjudication in light of the order passed while disposing of another plea in a matter about two stone crushers in a village in Nainital district of Uttarakhand. “There can be no quarrel with the proposition that public interest would warrant action against polluting units. This is equally applicable to those industrial units which have been functioning since long,” a bench of Justices R Subhash Reddy and Hrishikesh Roy said in its 14-page judgement.
“Adherence to the environmental and pollution norms cannot be compromised for factual misunderstandings or due to cryptic determination. Orders which have direct repercussions on the right to clean environment must surely be the outcome of scrutiny and substantive deliberation, as per the applicable facts,” the apex court said.
The bench said that the NGT was required to address the grievance on the adverse health impacts on the local populace by the stone crushers. It said the tribunal itself had recognized that orders were necessary to resolve the issue. “The factual determination had reflected the need to ensure heightened compliance with the environmental norms for the concerned area,” it said. (PTI)