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remanded

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  • APPLICANT-IN-PERSON
  • ROHIT K. SINGH
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  • APPLICANT-IN-PERSON
  • ROHIT K. SINGH
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Smart Summary

Factual and Procedural Background

The present order is part of the long-running public-interest litigation filed by environmental activist M.C. Mehta concerning air-quality management in the National Capital Region (NCR). In earlier proceedings the Court had directed implementation of Stage IV of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) owing to severe air pollution levels. Thirteen advocates were appointed as Court Commissioners to monitor compliance at Delhi’s entry points. The instant order, dated 25 November 2024, is issued after perusing the Commissioners’ joint report of the same date.

Legal Issues Presented

  1. Whether the authorities responsible for clauses 1–3 of Stage IV GRAP have complied with the Court’s previous directions.
  2. Whether Stage IV restrictions should remain in force or be relaxed to Stage III/II in view of Air Quality Index (AQI) trends.
  3. What remedial and welfare measures must be undertaken to protect labourers, daily-wagers and students affected by the continuing restrictions.

Arguments of the Parties

The opinion does not contain a detailed account of the parties' legal arguments.

Table of Precedents Cited

No precedents were cited in the provided opinion.

Court's Reasoning and Analysis

1. Non-implementation of GRAP Stage IV (clauses 1–3): The Court Commissioners’ report showed that only a few police teams had been posted at entry points and many officers lacked instructions. The Court held this to be “inaction” and a “serious lapse” by the designated authorities.

2. Statutory enforcement: Invoking Section 14 of the Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Act, 2021, the Bench directed the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to initiate proceedings against defaulting officers/entities.

3. Continuation of Stage IV restrictions: The Bench stated that a downward AQI trend must be “consistent” before any relaxation could be considered. A chart produced by the Additional Solicitor General showed AQI values between 318 and 419 from 20–24 November 2024. Updated data were ordered to be filed before the next hearing.

4. Welfare of construction workers: While construction activity is halted under Stage IV, NCR States were ordered to utilise accumulated labour-cess funds to pay weekly subsistence allowances, reiterating an earlier directive of 24 November 2021.

5. Protection of vulnerable groups: Relying on Section 12(1) of the CAQM Act, the Court asked the Commission to frame mitigating measures for labourers, daily-wagers and economically weaker sections.

6. Educational concerns: The Court noted that school closures deprive children of mid-day meals and online access. CAQM was instructed to consider immediate relaxations or exemptions under clauses 5 and 8 of Stage IV and clause 11 of Stage III for educational institutions, with a decision expected within a day.

7. Continued monitoring: Court Commissioners’ appointments were extended, and they were authorised to report further violations. CAQM was told to examine additional suggestions listed in the Commissioners’ report.

Holding and Implications

HOLDING: Stage IV GRAP restrictions are continued; CAQM must prosecute defaulting officials under Section 14 of the Act, consider welfare and educational relaxations, and file updated AQI data. The matter is listed for further directions on 28 November 2024 at 3:30 p.m.

Implications: Construction bans and other Stage IV measures remain, but labour-cess funds must now directly support affected workers. CAQM faces judicial scrutiny and potential sanctions if enforcement lapses persist. Any relaxations for schools will hinge on CAQM’s prompt decision, and broader policy shifts depend on forthcoming AQI data. No new legal precedent is set, but the order reinforces the Court’s supervisory role over statutory environmental bodies.

Show full summary ...
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    M.C. MEHTA v. UNION OF INDIA

    ITEM NO.68 COURT NO.5 SECTION PIL-W

    S U P R E M E C O U R T O F I N D I A

    RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS

    WRIT PETITION(S)(CIVIL) NO(S). 13029/1985 M.C. MEHTA Petitioner(s)

    VERSUS

    UNION OF INDIA & ORS. Respondent(s)

    (IN RE: COMMISSION FOR AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT (CAQM) (AIR

    POLLUTION) AND IMPLEMENTATION OF GRAP IV 1) I.A. NO. 269389/2024 (APPLICATION FOR INTERVENTION) 2) I.A. Nos. 270761 AND 270763/2024

    (APPLICATIONS FOR DIRECTION AND INTERVENTION) NAME OF THE FOLLOWING

    ADVOCATES MAY BE TREATED TO HAVE BEEN SHOWN IN THE LIST: MR. HARISH

    N. SALVE, SR. ADVOCATE (A.C.) MS. APARAJITA SINGH, SR. ADVOCATE

    (A.C.) MR. A.D.N. RAO, SR. ADVOCATE (A.C.) MR. SIDDHARTHA

    CHOWDHURY, ADVOCATE (A.C.) MR. G.S. MAKKER, MR. AMRISH KUMAR, MR.

    M.K. MARORIA MR. SANJAY KR. VISEN, MR. SUDEEP KUMAR, MR. KARAN

    SHARMA, MR. SANDEEP KR. JHA MR. JYOTI MENDIRATTA, MR. RAHUL

    KHURANA, MR. YASH S VIJAY, MR. SAURABH AGRAWAL ADVOCATES)

    Date : 25-11-2024 This petition was called on for hearing today.

    CORAM :

    HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ABHAY S. OKA HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE AUGUSTINE GEORGE MASIH Ms. Aparajita Singh, Sr. Adv. (A.C.) Mr. A.D.N. Rao, Sr. Adv. (A.C.) Mr. Siddhartha Chowdhury, Adv. (A.C.) Ms. Shibani Ghosh, Adv.

    Mr. Ishank Ranjan, Adv.

    Mr. Aditya Bharat Manubarwala, Adv. Mr. Aditya N. Prasad, Adv./Court Commissioner (Co-ordinator)

    Mr. Manan Verma, Adv./Court Commissioner Mr. Pratyush Jain, Adv./Court Commissioner For the Parties Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.G. Ms. Swarupma Chaturvedi, Sr. Adv. Ms. Ruchi Kohli, Sr. Adv.

    Mr. V. Balaji, Adv.

    Mr. Mayank Pandey, Adv.

    Mr. Bharat Singh, Adv.

    Mr. Ishaan Sharma, Adv.

    Mr. Arvind Kumar Sharma, Adv.

    1

    Mr. Gopal Sankaranarayanan, Sr. Adv. Ms. Manali Singhal, Adv. Ms. Diksha Rai, AOR

    Ms. Aanchal Kapoor, Adv. Mr. Deepak Singh Rawat, Adv. Ms. Shreya Singhal, Adv. Mr. Santosh Sachin, Adv. Mr. Vishal Sinha, Adv.

    Mr. Tushar Shrivastava, Adv. Ms. Shreya Nair, Adv.

    Ms. Apurva Sachdev, Adv. Mr. Piyush Vyas, Adv.

    Ms. Purvat Wali, Adv.

    Mr. Shadan Farasat, Sr. Adv. Ms. Jyoti Mendiratta, AOR Ms. Ananya Basudha, Adv. Ms. Natasha Maheshwari, Adv. Mr. Prannav Dhawan, Adv.

    Dr. Menaka Guruswamy, Sr. Adv. Mr. Yash S. Vijay, AOR Mr. Utkarsh Pratap, Adv. Ms. Arunima Das, Adv. Ms. Aditi Tripathi, Adv. Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.G. Ms. Swarupma Chaturvedi, Sr. Adv. Ms. Ruchi Kohli, Sr. Adv. Mr. Gurmeet Singh Makker, AOR Ms. Suhashinin Sen, Adv. Mr. Chitvan Singhal, Adv. Ms. Sweksha, Adv. Ms. Neelakshi Bhadouria, Adv. Mr. Rohan Gupta, Adv. Mr. K. Parameshwar, Sr. Adv. Applicant-in-person, AOR Petitioner-in-person Mr. P. K. Jain, AOR Mr. Ramesh Babu M. R., AOR Mr. Rajesh Kumar Chaurasia, AOR Mr. Mahesh Agarwal, Adv. Mr. E.C. Agrawala, AOR

    2

    Ms. Hemantika Wahi, AOR Ms. Binu Tamta, AOR Mr. Radha Shyam Jena, AOR Mr. Pradeep Kumar Bakshi, AOR Mr. Ashok Mathur, AOR Mr. V. K. Verma, AOR Mr. Ajit Pudussery, AOR Mrs. Bina Gupta, AOR Mr. Rakesh K. Sharma, AOR Ms. Sujeeta Srivastava, AOR Mr. Alok Gupta, AOR Mr. Anil Kumar Jha, AOR Mr. Mukesh K. Giri, AOR Mr. Mandaar Mukesh Giri, Adv. Mr. Aakash Shankar, Adv. Mr. L.K. Giri, Adv. M/S. Parekh & Co., AOR Mr. Sudhir Mendiratta, AOR Mrs. Anil Katiyar, AOR Mr. Hardeep Singh Anand, AOR Mr. Sandeep Narain, AOR Mr. Sushil Kumar Singh, AOR Mrs. Rani Chhabra, AOR Mr. G. Prakash, AOR Ms. Nandini Gidwaney, AOR Mr. Shri Narain, AOR Mr. Umesh Kumar Khaitan, AOR Ms. Shalini Kaul, AOR

    3

    Mr. K. R. Sasiprabhu, AOR Mrs. K. Sarada Devi, AOR Mr. Sanjay Kumar Visen, AOR Mrs. Priya Puri, AOR Mr. Lokesh Sinhal, Sr. A.A.G. Mr. B.K. Satija, A.A.G. Mr. Akshay Amritanshu, AOR Mr. Rahul Khurana, Adv. Ms. Himanshi Shakya, Adv. Mr. Nikunj Gupta, Adv. Ms. Drishti Saraf, Adv. Ms. Pragya Upadhyay, Adv. Ms. Swati Mishra, Adv. Ms. Aakanksha, Adv. Ms. Manjula Gupta, AOR Mr. T.V. Ratnam, AOR Mr. Balaji Srinivasan, AOR Mr. Rajiv Ranjan Dwivedi, AOR M/S. Khaitan & Co., AOR Mr. S. S. Shroff, AOR Mr. Sushil Kumar Jain, AOR Mr. Aniruddha Deshmukh, AOR Mr. Ravindra Bana, AOR Mr. Surya Kant, AOR Mrs. B. Sunita Rao, AOR Mr. Abhishek, AOR Mr. Sarvam Ritam Khare, AOR Mr. R. P. Gupta, AOR Mr. P. Parmeswaran, AOR Mr. Mohit D. Ram, AOR Mr. Pramod Dayal, AOR

    4

    Mr. Satya Mitra, AOR M/S. M. V. Kini & Associates, AOR Mr. Rakesh Kumar-I, AOR Mr. Parijat Sinha, AOR

    M/S. Saharya & Co., AOR Mr. Nishe Rajen Shonker, AOR Mrs. Anu K Joy, Adv. Mr. Alim Anvar, Adv. Mr. Pavan Kumar, AOR M/S. S. Narain & Co., AOR Mr. Sandeep Narain, Adv. Ms. Kanak Malik, Adv. Mr. Chirag M. Shroff, AOR Mrs. Mahima C Shroff, Adv. Mr. Anand Thumbayil, Adv. Mr. Ejaz Maqbool, AOR Dr. Menaka Guruswamy, Sr. Adv. Mr. S. Wasim A Quadri, Sr. Adv. Mr. Praveen Swarup, Adv. Mr. Ajay Bansal, Adv.

    Mr. Devesh Maurya, Adv. Mr. Ravi Kumar, Adv.

    Mr. K.P. Singh, Adv.

    Mr. Praveen Swarup, AOR Mr. Prashant Kumar, AOR Mrs. Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.G. Mrs. Archna Pathak Dave, A.S.G. Mr. Wasim Quadri, Sr. Adv. Mrs. Ruchi Kohli, Sr. Adv. Mr. Mukesh Kumar Maroria, AOR Mrs. Suhasini Sen, Adv. Mr. Rajesh Kr. Singh, Adv. Mr. Subhranshu Padhi, Adv. Mr. S S Rebello, Adv. Mr. Jagdish Chandra Solanki, Adv. Ms. Pritha Srikumar Iyer, AOR Ms. Surabhi Sanchita, AOR

    5

    Mr. Vinod Sharma, AOR Dr. Ram Sankar, Adv. Mrs. Harini Ramsankar, Adv. Mrs. Usha Prabakaran, Adv. Mr. Maheswaran Prabakaran, Adv. For M/S. Ram Sankar & Co, AOR Mr. Mahfooz Ahsan Nazki, AOR Mr. Vinodh Kanna B., AOR Mr. Sandeep Singh, AOR Ms. N. Annapoorani, AOR Mr. S. Gowthaman, AOR Ms. Neeru Vaid, AOR Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.G. Ms. Archana Pathak Dave, A.S.G. Ms. Suhashini Sen, Adv. Mr. Subhranshu Padhi, Adv. Mr. Gaurang Bhushan, Adv. Mr. Raghav Sharma, Adv. Mr. Rajesh Kumar Singh, Adv. Mr. Shreekant Neelappa Terdal, AOR Ms. Kanu Agrawal, Adv.

    Mr. Bhuvan Kapoor, Adv.

    Mr. Varun Chugh, Adv.

    Mr. Krishna Kant Dubey, Adv. Mr. Indira Bhakar, Adv. Ms. Indira Bhakar, Adv. Mr. Vineet Singh, Adv. Mr. Shreekant Neelappa Terdal, AOR Mr. Avi Singh, Adv.

    Mr. Saurabh Agrawal, AOR Mr. Shiven Varma, Adv.

    Mr. Dhruv Malik, Adv.

    Ms. Pragya Dubey, Adv.

    Ms. Komal Mundhra, Adv. Mr. Vivek Gupta, AOR

    Mr. Vinay Garg, AOR

    Ms. G. Indira, AOR

    6

    Mr. Subhro Sanyal, AOR Mr. Sagar Roy, Adv. Mr. Satya Dev Singh, Adv. Ms. Anki Kashyap, Adv. Mr. Abhishek Sahay, Adv. Mr. Rajbir Singh Takshak, Adv. Avni Singh, Adv.

    Ms. Misha Rohatgi, AOR Mr. Ravi Prakash, AOR Mr. Pukhrambam Ramesh Kumar, AOR Mr. Karun Sharma, Adv. Ms. Rajkumari Divyasana, Adv. Mr. Vikrant Singh Bais, AOR Mr. Alok Gupta, AOR Mr. K.V. Mohan, AOR Ms. Surbhi Mehta, AOR Mr. Shovan Mishra, AOR Ms. G. Indira, AOR Mr. Yoginder Handoo, AOR Ms. Nidhi Jaswal, AOR Mr. Rakesh Kumar-I, AOR Mr. Parminder Singh Bhullar, AOR Mr. Shantanu Jugtawat, Adv. Mr. Chandrakant Sukumar Sarkar, Adv. Mr. Mukesh Kumar Singh, Adv. Mr. C M Dwivedi, Adv.

    Mr. Savyasachi Dubey, Adv. Mr. Narendra Kumar Goyal, Adv. For M/S. Mukesh Kumar Singh And Co., AOR Ms. Ankita Sharma, AOR

    Mr. Arjun D Singh, Adv.

    Mr. Kumar Dushyant Singh, AOR Mr. Rohit Sharma, Adv.

    Mr. Nikhil Purohit, Adv.

    Mr. Jatin Lalwani, Adv.

    Mr. Jay Rawat, Adv.

    7

    Mr. Mukesh Verma, Adv. Mr. Pankaj Kumar Singh, Adv. Mr. Vatsala Tripathi, Adv. Mr. Yash Pal Dhingra, AOR Mrs. Rajshri Dubey, Adv. Mr. Abhishek Chauhan, Adv. Mr. Amit P Shahi, Adv. Mr. Amit Kumar, Adv. Mr. H B Dubey, Adv. Mr. Rahul Sethi, Adv. Mr. Shashibhushan Nagar, Adv. Mr. Sumant A Khan, Adv. Mrs. Sona Khan, Adv. Mr. Rajendra Anbhule, Adv. Mr. Ashutosh Dubey, AOR Mr. Chandra Prakash, AOR Mr. Anuj Bhandari, AOR Mr. Anil Kumar, AOR Ms. Lubna Naaz, AOR Ms. Shashi Kiran, AOR Ms. Aastha Mehta, Adv. Ms. Deepanwita Priyanka, AOR Ms. Prerana Mohapatra, Adv. Mr. Raghvendra Kumar, AOR Mr. Anando Mukherjee, AOR Ms. Sanjivani Aggarwal, Adv. Ms. Jyoti Aggarwal, Adv. Mr. Pradeep Shekhavat, Adv. Ms. Filza Moonis, AOR M/S. Karanjawala & Co., AOR Mr. V. N. Raghupathy, AOR Ms. Charu Ambwani, AOR Ms. Astha Sharma, AOR Ms. Ripul Swati Kumari, Adv. Mr. Rajesh Kumar Maurya, Adv. Mr. Neeraj Shekhar, AOR

    8

    Mr. Ashok Kumar Rai, Adv. Mr. Mohit Paul, AOR Mr. Nischal Kumar Neeraj, AOR Mr. Nishit Agrawal, AOR Mr. Yashraj Singh Bundela, AOR Mr. Surjeet Singh, Adv. Mr. Chanakya Baruah, Adv. Ms. Saloni, Adv.

    Mr. Rohan Singla, Adv. Mr. Pulkit Agarwal, AOR Mr. Abhaya Nath Das, Adv. Mr. S S Bandyopadhyay, Adv. Mr. Vinod Kumar Shukla, Adv. Mr. B C Bhatt, Adv.

    Mr. N D Kaushik, Adv. Ms. Monica Goel, Adv. Mrs. Barnali Basak, Adv. Mr. Kishor Kumar Mishra, Adv. Mr. Aditya Mishra, Adv. Mr. Hukum Deo Prasad, Adv. Mr. Satish Kumar, AOR Mr. Gaurav, AOR Mr. Shuvodeep Roy, AOR Mr. Deepayan Dutta, Adv. Mr. Saurabh Tripathi, Adv. Ms. Divya Jyoti Singh, AOR Mr. Vinay Garg, AOR Mr. T. R. B. Sivakumar, AOR Ms. Manju Jetley, AOR Mr. Amrish Kumar, AOR Mr. Harsh V. Surana, AOR Ms. Rakhi Ray, AOR Ms. Ishita Jain, AOR Mr. Anand Kumar Shrivastava, Adv. Mr. Ankit Bhandari, Adv.

    9

    Mr. Manish Kumar Gupta, AOR Ms. Tulika Mukherjee, AOR Mr. Akshay Girish Ringe, AOR Ms. Aswathi M.k., AOR M/S. M. V. Kini & Associates, AOR Mr. Pradeep Misra, AOR

    Mr. Daleep Dhyani, Adv. Mr. Suraj Singh, Adv.

    Mr. Manish Kumar, AOR

    Mr. Divyansh Mishra, Adv. Mr. Puneet Taneja, AOR

    Mr. Manmohan Singh Narula, Adv. Mr. Amit Yadav, Adv.

    Mr. Anil Kumar, Adv.

    Ms. Vrinda Bhandari, AOR Ms. Charu Mathur, AOR

    Ms. Sakshi Kakkar, AOR Ms. Shagun Matta, AOR

    Mr. Gaurav, AOR

    Mr. Gopal Jha, AOR

    Mr. Shishir Deshpande, AOR Mr. D. Kumanan, AOR Ms. Deepa S, Adv.

    Mr. Sheikh F Kalia, Adv. Mr. Veshal Tyagi, Adv. Mr. Chinmay Anand Panigrahi, Adv. Ms. Pritha Srikumar Iyer, AOR Ms. Rooh-e-hina Dua, AOR Mr. Mudit Gupta, AOR Ms. Divya Roy, AOR M/S. S. Narain & Co., AOR Mr. Sandeep Narain, Adv.

    10

    Ms. Kanak Malik, Adv. Mr. Shiv Mangal Sharma, A.A.G. Ms. Nidhi Jaswal, Adv. Ms. Shalini Singh, Adv. Mr. Saurabh Rajpal, Adv. Mr. Sandeep Kumar Jha, AOR Ms. Puja Sharma, AOR Mr. Gautam Narayan, AOR Ms. Asmita Singh, Adv. Mr. Tushar Nair, Adv. Mr. Anirudh Anand, Adv. Mr. Punishk Handa, Adv. Mr. Neeraj Kumar Gupta, AOR Mr. Danish Zubair Khan, AOR Mr. Vikas Mehta, AOR Ms. Garima Prashad, Sr. Adv./AAG Mr. Sudeep Kumar, AOR

    Ms. Rupali, Adv.

    Ms. Nidhi Singh, Adv.

    Mr. Niraj Gupta, AOR

    Mrs. Anshu Gupta, Adv. Mr. Mukesh Kumar Jain, Adv. Mr. Shekhar Kumar, AOR Mr. Rajan Narain, AOR Mr. Ayush Sharma, AOR Mr. Anurag Kishore, AOR Ms. Mayuri Raghuvanshi, AOR Dr. Brij Bhushan K Jauhari, Adv. Mr. Deepak Jyoti Ghildiyal, Adv. Mr. O.P. Singh, Adv.

    Mr. Harsh Mahan, Adv.

    Ms. Purnima Jauhari, AOR Mr. Hiren Dasan, AOR

    Mr. Ajay Vikram Singh, AOR Mrs. Priyanka Singh, Adv. Mr. Shubham Kumar Singh, Adv.

    11

    Mr. M. Aamir Faiyaz, Adv. Mr. K. Paari Vendhan, AOR Mr. Gurminder Singh, AG Punjab, Sr. Adv. Mr. Prashant Manchanda, A.A.G. Mr. Vivek Jain, D.A.G.

    Mr. Karan Sharma, AOR

    Ms. Jaikriti S. Jadeja, AOR

    Ms. Astha Tyagi, AOR

    Mr. Sunil Fernandes, AOR

    Mr. Kuldip Singh, AOR

    Ms. Anushree Prashit Kapadia, AOR Mr. Ketan Paul, AOR

    Dr. Ram Sankar, Adv.

    Mrs. Harini Ramsankar, Adv.

    Mrs. Usha Prabakaran, Adv.

    Mr. Maheswaran Prabakaran, Adv. M/S. Ram Sankar & Co, AOR

    Ms. Malvika Kapila, AOR

    Mr. Gaurav Kejriwal, AOR

    Mr. Sameer Abhyankar, AOR

    Mr. Rahul Kumar, Adv.

    Mr. Aryan Srivastava, Adv.

    Mr. Aakash Thakur, Adv.

    Mr. S. S. Shroff, AOR

    Ms. Madhumita Bhattacharjee, AOR Ms. Debarati Sadhu, Adv.

    Ms. Srija Choudhury, Adv.

    Mr. Anant, Adv.

    Mr. Anas Tanwir, AOR

    Mr. Vikrant Singh Bais, AOR

    Mr. Soumya Dutta, AOR

    Mr. Sameer Kumar, AOR

    Mr. Ajay Pal, AOR

    12

    Mr. Dhananjaya Mishra, AOR Mr. Rahul Khurana, AOR Mr. Rajiv Yadav, AOR Mr. Vipin Nair, AOR Mr. Rishi Matoliya, AOR Mr. D. Abhinav Rao, AOR Mr. Durga Dutt, AOR Mr. Avijit Mani Tripathi, AOR Mr. Vikas Bansal, Adv. Ms. Preeti Sehrawat, Adv. Ms. Rashmi Malhotra, AOR Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.G. Ms. Swarupma Chaturvedi, Sr. Adv. Ms. Ruchi Kohli, Adv.

    Ms. Suhashinin Sen, Adv. Mr. Chitvan Singhal, Adv. Ms. Sweksha, Adv.

    Ms. Neelakshi Bhadouria, Adv. Mr. Rohan Gupta, Adv. Mr. Gurmeet Singh Makker, AOR Mr. Gaurav Choudhary, AOR Mr. Ravindra Kumar, Sr. Adv. Mr. Binay Kumar Das, AOR Mr. Shivam Saxena, Adv. Mr. Vipin Kumar Saxena, Adv. Ms. Priyanka Das, Adv. Ms. Neha Das, Adv. Mr. Vikas Bharti, Adv. Mr. V.P. Pandey, Adv. Ms. K. Enatoli Sema, AOR Ms. Limayinla Jamir, Adv. Mr. Amit Kumar Singh, Adv. Ms. Chubalemla Chang, Adv. Mr. Prang Newmai, Adv. Ms. Nidhi Mohan Parashar, AOR Mr. P. Parmeswaran, AOR

    13

    Mrs. Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.G. Mrs. Archana Pathak Dave, A.S.G. Mrs. Ruchi Kohli, Sr. Adv. Mr. Raj Bahadur Yadav, AOR Mrs. Alka Agarwal, Adv. Ms. Sonali Jain, Adv. Mr. Ashok Kumar B, Adv. Ms. Baby Devi Bonia, Adv. Mr. Anirudh Bhat, Adv. Mr. Prashant Singh Ii, Adv. Mr. Nirnimesh Dube, AOR Mr. Ravindra S. Garia, AOR Mr. Shashank Singh, Adv. Mr. Madan Chandra Karnatak, Adv. Mr. Talha Abdul Rahman, AOR Mr. Guntur Pramod Kumar, AOR Mr. Dhruv Yadav, Adv. Mr. M.P. Devanath, AOR Ms. Ruchi Kohli, Sr. Adv. Ms. Srishti Mishra, Adv. Mr. Sumeet Mishra, Adv. Mr. R. C. Kohli, AOR Mr. D. Abhinav Rao, AOR Mr. Prakash Ranjan Nayak, AOR Mr. Nitin Saluja, AOR Mr. Deepayan Mandal, AOR Ms. Shalu Sharma, AOR Mr. Sahil Tagotra, AOR Mr. Sujay Jain, Adv. Mr. Zubin Dash, Adv. Mr. Akhil Anand, AOR Mr. Prashant Singh, AOR Mrs. Prerna Dhall, Adv. Mr. Piyush Yadav, Adv. Ms. Akanksha Singh, Adv. Mr. Pranav Sachdeva, AOR

    14

    Mr. Sameer Shrivastava, AOR Mr. Debojit Borkakati, AOR Mr. Aakarshan Aditya, AOR Mr. Vibhu Tiwari, Adv. Mr. Satish C Kaushik, Adv. Mr. Satya Mitra, AOR Mr. Prasanna S., AOR Ms. Mithu Jain, AOR Ms. Asha Gopalan Nair, AOR M/S. Ahmadi Law Offices, AOR Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.G. Ms. Archana Pathak Dave, A.S.G. Ms. Suhasini Sen, Adv. Mr. Rajesh Kr.singh, Adv. Mr. Subhranshu Padhi, Adv. Mr. Gaurang Bhushan, Adv. Mr. Sweksha, Adv. Dr. N. Visakamurthy, AOR Mr. Pushkar Sharma, AOR Ms. Nagma Bee, Adv. Mr. Shyel Trehan, Adv. Mr. Chirayu Jain, Adv. Mr. Rohan Poddar, Adv. Mr. Shivendra Singh, AOR UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following

    O R D E R

    1. A joint report dated 25th November, 2024 submitted by Shri Aditya N. Prasad, learned Advocate, the Coordinator of the Court Commissioners, is taken on record. At the outset, we must complement the 13 members of the Bar who are appointed as Court Commissioners for the excellent work done by them. Their appointment as Court Commissioners will continue and they will continue their visits to various entry points and keep on

    15

    submitting the reports to the Court.

    2. It is apparent that the Authorities, which are mentioned against clauses 1, 2 and 3 of Stage IV of the Graded Response Action Plan (for short, "the GRAP"), have made no earnest effort to implement the action in terms of clauses 1, 2 and 3. There is inaction on their part. Some Police teams were deputed only at a few entry points, and that also without any specific instructions. Most of them were clueless. In fact, the report of the Court Commissioners indicates that at most of the entry points in Delhi State, the Police were deputed only after the order of this Court of 22nd November 2024. There is a serious lapse on the part of the Authorities mentioned against clauses 1, 2 and 3. We, therefore, direct the Commission for Air Quality Management (for short, "the Commission") to immediately initiate action in terms of Section 14 of the Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Act, 2021 (for short, "the Act") against the defaulting officers/entities.

    3. Now, the question is whether Stage IV norms need relaxation. Unless the Court is satisfied that there is a consistent downward trend of AQI, we cannot permit the Commission to go down to Stage III or Stage II of the GRAP, as the case may be.

    4. As we are continuing the Stage IV norms, pending further orders, we direct all the NCR States to use the funds which have been collected as labour cess for the welfare of the construction workers by providing them weekly subsistence allowance for the

    16

    period during which the construction activities are prohibited. In substance, all the NCR States will comply with the directions issued by this Court in terms of clause (ii) of the order dated 24th November 2021 relating to payment of the requisite amount by way of subsistence allowance. The action shall be taken immediately by the State Governments.

    5. It is obvious that due to the implementation of Stage IV measures, several sections of society may have been adversely affected. The Commission has all the powers under Section 12(1) of the Act to issue directions to various Authorities to take several measures to ensure that the persons in the category of labourers, daily wagers, economically weaker sections, etc., do not suffer. We, therefore, direct the Commission to immediately consider the issue of taking mitigating measures by issuing necessary directions in the exercise of the powers in Section 12 of the Act.

    6. A chart has been tendered across the Bar by Ms Aishwarya Bhati, learned ASG, which shows that AQI in Delhi (not the entire region) from 20th November 2024 to 24th November 2024 ranges between 318 and 419. We direct the Commission to place updated data on the next date so that the Court can take a call on the continuation of Stage IV measures of the GRAP.

    7. In the meanwhile, we direct the Commission to consider the grant of relaxation of actions in terms of clauses 5 and 8 of Stage IV measures (only in relation to educational institutions) as well as clause 11 of Stage III measures. The Commission may consider of

    17

    grant of exemptions to certain classes from the aforesaid actions/measures. The Commission will have to consider the grant of relaxation/exemption as regards the actions under the aforesaid three clauses for various reasons, including the following:

    (i) A large number of students are being deprived of the facility of Mid Day Meals as the schools and anganwadis are closed;

    (ii) A large number of students do not have the facilities to take benefit of online education. Many educational institutions do not have facilities to provide online education; and

    (iii) The residences of many students do not have air purifiers, and therefore, there may not be any difference between the children sitting at home and the children attending school.

    An appropriate decision shall be taken by the Commission on the above aspects immediately, even if a copy of this order is not available. The learned ASG appearing for the Commission to communicate this order to the Commission. We also leave it to the Commission to decide on the continuation of the ban on conducting physical classes of X and XII standards on the same grounds.

    8. Various options can be considered by the Commission. One can be of granting relaxation to those schools and educational institutions which do not have the facility of online education, and the other can be of granting relaxation to those students who do not have the facilities of attending online education at their

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    respective homes. We make it clear that we are leaving it to the Commission to decide to what extent, if any, the measures relating to education which are otherwise applicable in Stages III and IV of the GRAP can be either relaxed or exceptions can be carved out. We expect that a decision shall be taken by the Commission during the course of the day or, at the latest, by tomorrow morning so that it can be implemented. We make it clear that all other actions provided in stage IV shall be scrupulously implemented. The Court Commissioners are free to bring to the notice of the Court violations of the actions under the GRAP.

    9. The Commission will look into the suggestions made by the Court Commissioners, especially against Item No.7 in paragraph 2 of their report.

    10. For issuing further directions, list the Petition on 28th November 2024 at 3:30 p.m.

    (ASHISH KONDLE) (AVGV RAMU)

    COURT MASTER (SH) COURT MASTER (NSH)

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