BATHINDA: Making its displeasure plain over the way the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) as well as Punjab and Haryana govts have handled the issue of crop residue burning, the Supreme Court observed on Wednesday that stubble burning is not merely an issue of breach of law but a violation of fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution (right to live with dignity, the right to livelihood, and the right to a healthy environment).
The govt will have to address questions on how they are going to protect the right of citizens to live with dignity and in a pollution-free environment, observed a bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justices Abhay S Oka, Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Augustine George Masih while hearing a petition pertaining to air pollution in Delhi NCR.
The court observed that selective action appears to have been taken against violators and there “is no formal penal action policy”, as in some cases compensation is being imposed while FIRS have been registered in very few cases.
Punjab, Haryana adopting a pick-and-choose policy, says SC
The court directed the central govt to amend the law to increase the environmental compensation imposed on farmers who indulge in stubble burning, and officials who fail to act on the same. The states at present only impose a fine of Rs 2,500 fine. The court also reviewed the affidavits submitted by the Haryana and Punjab chief secretaries.
The bench said that if the Punjab and Haryana govts were genuinely interested in enforcing the law, there would have been at least one prosecution in stubble burning incidents.
The court was informed that the CAQM has adopted Section 15 of the Environment (protection) Act, 1986 which gives power to the commission to prescribe the rates of environmental compensation. The court directed the commission to reconsider Section 15 rates they are collecting and prescribe rates to be collected as both Punjab and Haryana govts are adopting a policy of pick and choose on this. Unless there is proper exercise of compensation mechanism under Section 15, farmers will not be prosecuted, the court observed.
The court also stated that it has been told that in Punjab prosecution has been substituted with collection of penalty. This provision has been rendered useless by govt of India because no adjudicating officer or machinery is there, and amended Section 15 has “become just toothless” since no action can be taken against the violators. BILA