Court rejects PIL challenging ban on use of PoP idols
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) had notified guidelines for idol immersion in 2010 and were revised in 2020.
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The PIL also referred to the 2013 NGT order, which had set aside the Gujarat government’s decision to ban the use of PoP Ganesh idols and had recommended a study to be undertaken on the impacts of PoP on aquatic life. The ban on Plaster of Paris (PoP) Ganesh idols, claiming that the notification of May 2020 recommending the use of Shadu clay for idols instead of PoP was more harmful to the environment.
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) had notified guidelines for idol immersion in 2010 and were revised in 2020.
Dismissing the PIL, a division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Makarand S Karnik noted that the matter had already been decided by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and the Supreme Court had upheld the NGT order, hence it was not hearing the PIL. The court was informed through a PIL filed by one Ajay Sadashiv Vaishampayan that the 2010 guidelines issued by the CPCB on idol immersion were sufficient and a ban on PoP idols was not required.
The PIL also referred to the 2013 NGT order, which had set aside the Gujarat government’s decision to ban the use of PoP Ganesh idols and had recommended a study to be undertaken on the impacts of PoP on aquatic life. The petitioner said that though CPCB had constituted a committee to conduct such a study, nothing came out of it and thereafter in May 2020, it issued guidelines banning the use of PoP. The plea sought to set aside guidelines.
The bench said that the apex court had decided on the issue in 2021, hence it was not inclined to go into the merits of the plea.
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