Closure of Mysuru's Bio-Medical Waste Treatment Facility for lack of prior EC against public interest: SC

The Supreme Court on Thursday said the closure of a Bio-Medical Waste Treatment Facility only on the ground of lack of prior environmental clearance would be against public interest as Environment Protection Act does not prohibit ex post facto EC.

A bench of Justices Indira Banerjee and J K Maheshwari said, "Ex post facto EC should not ordinarily be granted, and certainly not for the asking. At the same time, ex post facto clearances and/or approvals cannot be declined with pedantic rigidity, regardless of the consequences of stopping the operations."

The court dismissed an appeal by advocate Sanjay M Nuli against final order of May 10, 2017, by the National Green Tribunal, Southern Zone rejecting an application by a resident, D Swamy under the National Green Tribunal Act 2010 against the facility at Mysuru on account of absence of prior environmental clearance.

The bench said, "This court cannot lose sight of the fact that the operation of a Bio-Medical Waste Treatment Facility is in the interest of prevention of environmental pollution. The closure of the facility only on the ground of want of prior environmental clearance would be against public interest."

The appellant sought a direction for closure of the Common Bio-Medical Waste Treatment Facility run by a private firm, on the ground of alleged non-compliance with the provisions of the Environmental Impact Assessment Notification 2006, as amended on April 17, 2015.

The top court said the NGT rightly found that when the facility was being operated with the requisite consent to operate, it could not be closed on the ground of want of prior EC.

Citing an apex court judgment, the bench said this court cannot be oblivious to the economy or the need to protect the livelihood of hundreds of employees and others employed in the units and dependent on the units for their survival.