By Our Legal Correspondent
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Oct 16 slammed on Haryana and Punjab for their “defiant attitude” against taking penal action on persons burning crop residue ahead of the winter season and aggravating air pollution across northern parts of India, especially in and around the land-locked national capital.
A three-judge Bench headed by Justice A S Oka expressed its shock at Haryana’s submission that it could detect no fires despite information received from Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) about their exact locations.
“ISRO tells you the locations, yet you say you could not find any fires? Why are you shy of prosecuting people? This is defiance on the part of Haryana, encouraging people to commit offences,” Justice Oka addressed the counsel for Haryana.
The court said there were 191 breaches, but people got off by paying a nominal amount as a fine. Penal action was not taken in even one case.
“These people will be happy to pay the nominal fine and continue to commit these offences,”, Justice Oka said.
