The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Centre to ensure there is no smog in Delhi-NCR as it was informed that the commission for air quality management will start functioning from today.
A Bench of Chief Justice SA Bobde and Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian posted the pleas related to air pollution for hearing after the Diwali vacation.
The Centre on Thursday appointed former Chief Secretary of Delhi MM Kutty chairperson of the Commission for Air Quality Management (AQM) in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, informed the Bench that the Commission will start functioning from Friday and the government has appointed the members.
While referring to the recent ordinance on Air Pollution, Mehta said that he would place it on record. The Bnch told the Solicitor General that he may place it on record but the court will hear the matter after Diwali vacation.
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“The only thing is that you ensure that there is no smog in the city. We are not concerned with commission. There are many commissions and many brains are working but just ensure that there is no smog in the city,” the Bench said.
Mehta replied that government is taking all efforts on war footing. Senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for petitioner Aditya Dubey, said the chairman of the commission is a bureaucrat and it could have been a retired judge of the HC. There is no member from the Union Health Ministry, he said.
The Bench said the commission can talk to anybody in the country.
Singh contended that there is no classification of offence and ₹ 1 crore fine and five year jail is a little bit arbitrary.
The Bench pointed out that all offences in the ordinance are non-cognizable, to which Singh replied that these are cognizable.
It told Mehta that there is no grading of offence to which he said that government will like to respond to it. “We don’t want to advise. These are all knowledgeable people and there are NGO people also,” the Bench said.
Mehta pointed that there are experts from the field, besides members from NGOs in the newly created commission and they will all start working from Friday. Singh added that the situation today is almost of a public health emergency and something drastic needs to be done.
The top court is also hearing a separate plea filed in 1985 by environmentalist M C Mehta on air pollution and had last year even taken a suo motu note of alarming rise in air pollution in Delhi-NCR where several directions have been passed with regard to stubble burning.