Central Pollution Body Pulled Up By Supreme Court Over Tardiness, Adjournment

The Commission for Air Quality Management or CAQM, was strongly reprimanded by the Supreme Court today, which said the pollution body was not taking the issue, or the court's suggestions,  seriously. Chief Justice of India Surya Kant asked whether the CAQM had identified the causes of air pollution in Delhi and questioned the plan to address pollution caused by heavy vehicles and ongoing construction activities in the NCR.

Expressing displeasure, the Chief Justice said the expert body should identify the causes of pollution point by point and not just blame farmers. "The highest stubble burning occurred during the COVID pandemic, but at the same time, people in Delhi saw blue skies," he said.

"Have you been able to identify the causes? That is the main issue. There is a lot of material coming into the public domain these days, experts are writing articles, people are giving their opinions," he told the pollution body.

Justice Kant was also irked at the suggestion of adjournment and said, "The proposal to meet on January 2 and return after two months is not acceptable". The judges refused to adjourn the case for more than two weeks and said the hearing will be held on a continuous basis.

"If applications or letters are coming, the expert institutions should themselves tell us which issues require action... ⁠Why wait for our instructions every time?" Justice Kant said.

Pointing out that heavy vehicles are a major cause of pollution, he said the first question is how to address this?

Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, representing the CAQM, said they want to take all stakeholders along and will file issue-wise status reports. 

The court asked the CAQM to convene a meeting of experts within two weeks to identify the main causes of the increase in AQI.

The pollution body has to identify the most polluting factors and address them on a priority basis. The next hearing will be on January 21.

The Supreme Court has also directed the Ministry of Environment and Forests to expedite the process of identifying the causes and developing long-term solutions to air pollution.

The court said that it is appropriate to place on record at this stage that the amicus curiae has highlighted several key issues related to deteriorating air quality.