Ban On Pet Coke, Furnace Oil: Supreme Court Asks Government To Respond To Pleas

The Supreme Court today asked the Centre to respond to the pleas filed by a group of industries seeking reasonable time to implement its order banning the use of furnace oil and pet coke in the NCR to curb pollution.

The apex court had on Oct. 24 banned the use of pet coke and furnace oil in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan from Nov. 1 while keeping in view the pollution levels in Delhi and national capital region (NCR) and noting that these states had no objection to it.

The use of pet coke and furnace oil is already prohibited in Delhi.

After the top court's order, several industries which use pet coke and furnace oil have approached the court seeking time to implement its ban order on the ground that it would lead to the closure of those industries using these fuels.

Earlier, the apex court-appointed Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA), in its report to the top court, had recommended that "distribution, sale and use of furnace oil and pet coke would be strictly banned in NCR".

During the hearing today, the counsel representing these industries told a bench comprising Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta that they were complying with all the norms but the ban on the use of furnace oil and pet coke would shut down their business operations.

Senior lawyers Kapil Sibal and Shyam Divan, representing some of these industries, said time should be given to them to shift to alternative modes of fuel and they were already in the process of adopting new technology.

"You file your affidavit," the bench told Additional Solicitor General Atmaram Nadkarni, representing the Centre.

The counsel appearing for the industries referred to the union environment ministry's draft notification on pollution emission standards for industries using pet coke and furnace oil and said it was issued on October 23 and a period of 60 days has been given for raising objections on it.

The lawyer argued that these industries were ready to adhere to the pollution standards but the court should give them time till December end to comply with it.

The top court had on October 24 come down heavily on the union environment ministry for not finalising pollution emission standards for industries using pet coke and furnace oil and had slapped a cost of Rs two lakh on it.

Terming it as a "completely disgusting state of affairs", the court had asked the ministry why the standards were not finalised despite its earlier direction that it should be done on or before June 30 this year.

The court, in its May 2 order, had directed the ministry and the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to fix sulphur oxides and nitrogen oxides standards for these industries after giving a hearing to a limited number of their authorised representatives keeping in mind the provisions of Environment Protection Act, 1986.

The court was hearing a PIL filed in 1985 by environmentalist M C Mehta who had raised the issue of air pollution in the Delhi-NCR.

Earlier, the court was told about the ill-effects of pet coke and furnace oil used in industries on ambient air and it was said that emissions from such units were highly toxic as these released high sulphur content.