Supreme Court punishes Haryana for not prosecuting those found guilty of stubble burning

The Supreme Court on Wednesday (October 16) criticized the Haryana government for refusing to prosecute those found guilty of stubble burning. The court summoned the chief secretary of state to appear before it on October 23 and asked him to explain why no stringent action was taken against violators and government officials.

“This is not a political issue. If the Secretary-General is acting on someone’s orders, we will also issue summonses against him. Nothing has been done and the situation in Punjab is the same. noticed.

The bench headed by Justice Abhay S. Oka is full of inconsistencies in the affidavit filed by Haryana. The court directed the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to take punitive action against Haryana government officials for failing to take action against violators.

The Supreme Court said CAQM had become a toothless tiger.

The court asked why the state is afraid to prosecute people for stubble burning and release them with nominal financial penalties. “ISRO gives the location where the fire took place and you say you found nothing,” the court told Haryana.

The top court also directed the Punjab Chief Secretary to remain in the court on October 23 and explain the failure to comply with the order and why no action was taken against the officials.

CAQM, the statutory body tasked with preparing a strategy to curb air pollution in Delhi-NCR, said that between September 15 and October 9, 267 cases of stubble burning were reported in Punjab and 187 in Haryana. 26 central teams have been deployed to key districts in Punjab and Haryana to help local authorities leverage all available resources for stubble management. A special cell has also been set up in Chandigarh to closely monitor these efforts.