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Informist, Monday, Dec. 1, 2025

 

NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court Monday said it is easy to blame farmers engaged in stubble burning for high levels of air pollution in the Delhi-National Capital Region, when they were not represented before the court. "During COVID-19, stubble burning happened as usual, but we could still see blue skies and stars. Why?" asked a bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, adding that other factors also need to be given a thought about. On Monday, the 24-hour average Air Quality Index for Delhi was 304 under the category of "very poor".

 

The apex court said that the matter of stubble burning should not "unnecessarily become a political issue or an issue of ego". The top court asked the government and Commission for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region and adjoining areas to submit a report within a week on the effective measures taken to prevent causes other than the stubble burning for containing air pollution in the Delhi-National Capital Region.

 

The bench, also comprising Justice Joymalya Bagchi, asked the government to give clarity on whether its action plans on containing pollution levels have produced any real impact. "We want to see long- and short-term plans. We will keep taking the case up. None of the cities of the country were developed to accommodate this scale of population or with the thought that each home will have multiple cars. Let us see which measures are suggested to us and whether these measures are implemented or are on paper only". The top court will next hear the case on rising air pollution levels in Delhi-National Capital Region and the issue of stubble burning in the neighbouring states on Dec. 10.

 

In September, a bench led by B.R. Gavai, who was then the Chief Justice of India, had observed that sending some farmers behind bars for stubble burning would send a strong message to others and act as a deterrent from continuing the practice. The top court had said while farmers are important for the country, it cannot mean that they are allowed to continue stubble burning unchecked.

 

"Why don't you (Punjab government) think of some penalty provisions? If some people are behind bars, it will send the correct message. If you have a real intention of protecting the environment, then why shy away? I had read in newspapers that this (stubble left behind by crops) can also be used as biofuels. We cannot make this a five yearly exercise. Farmers are special and we are eating because of them but it does not mean that we cannot protect the environment," he had said.

 

Last year, the Supreme Court had summoned the chief secretaries of Punjab and Haryana for failing to comply with the Commission for Air Quality Management's directives on stubble burning and air pollution. Referring to Punjab, the court had said stubble and paddy straw burning continued unabated, and the state government does not want to do anything under The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981. Punjab's advocate general responded that implementing the commission's directions on the ground was difficult, adding that state officials were previously mistreated by locals while trying to enforce the directions.  End

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Nishant Maher

 

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