NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday slammed the Punjab and Haryana government over its alleged failure in non-prosecution of violators found guilty of stubble burning and summoned the respective state chief secretary to appear before it on October 23.
The apex court's three-judge bench, led by Justices Abhay S Oka, Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Augustine George Masih directed the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to take strict penal action against Haryana government officials, who failed in their duty to take action against the violators.
"This is not a political matter. If chief secretary is acting at somebody's behest, we will issue summons against them as well. Next Wednesday we are going to physically call the chief secretary and explain everything. Nothing has been done, same is with the Punjab government," the bench of the top court said.
The bench also remarked that this "attitude is of complete defiance," as the apex court slammed the concerned authorities for not taking effective action to address the problem of air pollution levels in Delhi and its neighbouring regions during the winter season.
It was also apprised by various petitioners that there has been a substantial increase in stubble-burning cases in both states, to which, the SC called it an "absolute defiance" of the Commission of Air Quality Management (CAQM), which also couldn't do its duty to take steps to control stubble burning and related issues.
The apex court had earlier in its order directed the CAQM to take penal action against Haryana government officials for failure to take action against the violators.
The top court said "CAQM has become a toothless tiger."
The top court was hearing the issue of non-compliance of orders passed by the CAQM in NCR, particularly regarding stubble burning.
The apex court had earlier slammed the CAQM over its failure to curb air pollution due to crop residue burning, as it had said the air quality panel needed to be more active in its approach to dealing with the issue.
The top court had highlighted that the Commission should make its best efforts to ensure that stubble-burning alternative equipment is used at the grassroots level.
Amicus curiae (Friend of court) Aparajita Singh had pointed out that the CAQM was not doing enough to tackle the issue. "What effective action are they taking? ... If it is still continuing year after year, then these are not answers," Singh had told the Bench.