New Delhi:The Supreme Court Tuesday stayed a National Green Tribunal (NGT) order, which directed the Maharashtra government to deposit Rs 12,000 crore as compensation for improper management of solid and liquid waste.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing the state government, contended before a three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud that the NGT had directed Maharashtra to deposit Rs 12,000 crore. The bench, also comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, issued notice on the plea filed by the Maharashtra government against the NGT’s September last year order.
The bench said, “In the meantime, the direction issued by the National Green Tribunal requiring the state of Maharashtra to deposit an amount of Rs 12,000 crore as compensation in a ‘separate ring-fenced account’ shall remain stayed”.
The NGT, in its order, had said the compensation under section 15 of the NGT Act was necessary to “remedy” the continuing damage to the environment caused due to the shortcomings in waste management. The tribunal had determined the compensation in respect of the gap in treatment of liquid waste to be about Rs 10,840 crore, and in respect of un-remediated legacy waste to be around Rs 1,200 crore, and rounded the amount off to Rs 12,000 crore. The tribunal’s order came pursuant to the apex court’s directions requiring the NGT to monitor the enforcement of solid and liquid waste management norms.
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