SC stays NGT order imposing Rs 15 crore penalty upon Coca Cola bottling unit

The Supreme Court has stayed the National Green Tribunal (NGT) order which imposed a penalty of approximately Rs 15 crore upon the bottling unit of Coca Cola Company.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has stayed the National Green Tribunal (NGT) order which imposed a penalty of approximately Rs 15 crore upon the bottling unit of Coca Cola Company. A bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao, BR Gavai, and AS Bopanna stayed the operation of the judgment and order dated February 25, 2022, passed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) imposing a penalty of approximately INR 15 crores upon the bottling unit of Coca Cola Company.

"There shall be a stay of operation of the impugned judgment and order dated 25.02.2022 passed by the National Green Tribunal, Principal Bench, New Delhi," the court said in its May 19 order. The NGT had held that Moon Beverages Ltd (MBL) had operated and abstracted groundwater in accordance with no-objection certificates issued to it by the Central Ground Water Authority and other authorities and proceeded to impose environmental compensation on the ground that the very issuance of the no-objection certificates by the authorities was invalid.

MBL and Varun Beverages ("Appellants") consequently challenged the said Order dated 25.02.2022 through separate Civil Appeals. The Supreme Court issued a notice in both the appeals same while staying the operation of the NGT Order. The appellants submitted before the Supreme Court the urgent need to conclusively decide whether the concept of a deemed extension of a no-objection certificate could be said to be an anathema to the environmental jurisprudence under Indian laws.

Moon Beverages Limited was represented by Pinaki Misra, Senior Advocate along with a team from Karanjawala & Co advocates led by Ruby Singh Ahuja, Senior Partner, along with Aakriti Vohra, Ashutosh P Shukla, and Jappanpreet Hora. (ANI)