To tackle impression of ‘massive pendency’, SC closes 40-year-old MC Mehta case

It asked the Advocates on Record (AoR’s) in the pending applications to inform in two weeks, whether the pending applications have become infructuous.

The court said, “on the previous date, parties were ad idem that this is high time when the proceedings, purportedly of 1985, ought to be formally disposed of. It was suggested so in light of the fact that none of the issue that still survives originated in 1985 or soon thereafter.”

Hearing the matter earlier, the CJI had said that retaining the 1985 case in its cause list gave the impression that the case has remained undecided for over 40 years when in reality the pending cases are only applications that have been listed under the main title in subsequent years.

The bench further directed that all such applications which require consideration on merits shall be assigned separate writ numbers and be further sub-categorised into vehicular pollution including payment of Environmental Compensation Charges (ECC), air quality governance, waste management etc.

The bench also asked the SC Registry not to entertain any new Interlocutory or Miscellaneous Application under these sub-categories without its prior approval.

It added that “the challenges which this Court is now tasked to resolve are of recent times and hence require that the writ petition should be appropriately recaptioned…..No Interlocutory Application or Miscellaneous Application shall hitherto be entertained by the Registry in that matter. Instead, the Registry is directed to register suo motu proceedings Re: Issues of air pollution in National Capital Region.”

Several landmark judgments concerning environmental protection in NCR were passed over the years in the 1985 PIL, including orders pertaining to mandating CNG for public transport, protection of the Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ), pollution in the river Ganga, among others.