With Delhi’s pollution levels hitting new lows and stubble burning being claimed to be the major reason for it, the Supreme Court Monday kept in abeyance its 16 October order appointing one-man panel of retired apex court judge Justice Madan B Lokur to monitor the steps taken by neighbouring States to prevent stubble burning.
The order was passed by a bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde while considering the Centre’s stand that it is coming out with a comprehensive legislation to deal with air pollution, including the aspect of stubble burning.
The bench, also comprising Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian, said, the only issue is people are choking because of pollution and it is something which must be curbed. During the hearing through video conferencing on Monday, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the bench that the Centre has taken a holistic view of the matter and the draft of the proposed law on curbing pollution would be submitted in the apex court within four days.
In its 16 October order, the SC had ordered deployment of National Cadet Corps, National Service Scheme and Bharat Scouts and Guides for assisting in the monitoring of stubble burning in the agricultural fields of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi-NCR, saying all it wants is that people of Delhi-NCR can breathe fresh air without any pollution. The apex court had raised concern over the worsening air quality in Delhi-NCR and appointed one man panel of Justice (retd) Lokur to monitor the steps taken by the neighbouring states to prevent stubble burning, while brushing aside objections of the Centre, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. It is high time to take solid steps to bring down pollution.