SC issues contempt notices to Rajasthan officials over failure to curb pollution

The Supreme Court has issued contempt notices to Rajasthan officials over violations of its direction for curbing air and noise pollution and sought their responses within four weeks about burnt firecrackers littered around Udaipur lakes.

Udaipur resident Bhagyashree Pancholy moved a contempt application over the state’s failure to comply with the court’s November 7, 2023, direction for minimising air and noise pollution.

A bench of justices MM Sundresh and N Kotiswar Singh last Monday issued the notices to additional chief secretary (environment) Aparna Arora, Udaipur district collector Arvind Poswal, police superintendent Yogesh Goyal, and Rajasthan Pollution Control Board regional officer Sharad Saxena. “The presence of the alleged contemnors is dispensed with,” said the bench.

Pancholy filed the application in a 2015 public interest litigation seeking a ban on firecrackers. The court has passed orders banning the use, manufacture, and stocking of firecrackers in Delhi and the National Capital Region. On November 7, 2023, the court issued a direction specifically to Rajasthan asking the state to take all steps to “minimise the air or noise pollution not only during the festival season but even thereafter.”

Pancholy in the application filed through advocate Pooja Dhar highlighted the failure of the authorities to implement the court’s orders despite clear directives. It cited a news article dated January 8 showing firecrackers lying around Udaipur lakes.

Pancholy cited communications to the district authorities in Udaipur about the violation of the court’s order. “The contumacious actions of the alleged contemnors not only jeopardise public health and the fragile ecosystem of Udaipur but also undermine the dignity and authority of this court.” The application added the contemnors named in the application are liable for their wilful disobedience and contemptuous acts.

In October 2018, the court stopped the production of all traditional firecrackers in view of the deteriorating air pollution in major cities. The court permitted only green crackers and improved crackers (with reduced emissions).

In September last year, the court refused to permit the use of barium nitrate as an oxidiser in the manufacturing of improved crackers, citing the breathing disorders they cause.