Pollution boards can impose environmental damages, says SC
NEW DELHI, Aug 5 (PTI): In a significant verdict, the Supreme Court has upheld the powers of the pollution control boards to impose restitutionary and compensatory damages for environmental harm, saying that prevention and remediation must be at the heart of environmental governance.
A bench comprising justices PS Narasimha and Manoj Misra held that under provisions of the Water Act and the Air Act, pollution control boards are constitutionally and statutorily empowered to levy damages for actual or potential environmental harm.
“Having considered the principles that govern Indian environmental laws, we have held that the environmental regulators, the Pollution Control Boards exercising powers under the Water and Air Acts, can impose and collect restitutionary or compensatory damages in the form of fixed sum of monies or require furnishing of bank guarantees as an ex-ante measure to prevent potential environmental damage,” Justice Narasimha wrote in the judgement delivered on Monday.
