Supreme Court flatly rejects year-round enforcement of GRAP measures (construction bans, BS-III petrol/BS-IV diesel vehicle curbs, odd-even, etc.), saying Delhi-NCR cannot remain in “perpetual emergency mode”.
Bench of CJI B R Gavai, Justices K Vinod Chandran and N V Anjaria directs Punjab and Haryana chief secretaries to jointly meet within 48 hours and enforce every single CAQM recommendation to end farm fires “once and for all”.
Court warns it will personally monitor progress, summons status reports by Nov 24, next hearing Nov 25 as Delhi chokes in “severe-plus” AQI for the sixth day running.
Delhi pollution: SC For long-term Solution, Refuses To Ban Polluting Activities
Supreme Court demands lasting fix, cracks whip on Punjab-Haryana stubble burning
Summary
The Supreme Court on Monday made it clear that Delhi cannot survive under indefinite emergency restrictions and refused pleas to convert the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) into a permanent year-round regime.
“Delhi-NCR cannot live in GRAP forever. We need a long-term solution, not a city under lockdown 365 days a year,” a special bench headed by Chief Justice B R Gavai remarked while hearing a clutch of petitions on the capital’s annual winter smog crisis.
The court was responding to suggestions from amicus curiae and senior advocates that Stage-III and Stage-IV GRAP restrictions — including blanket construction bans, entry curbs on polluting trucks and vehicles, and staggered office timings — be made permanent until pollution is brought under control permanently.
The bench, also comprising Justices K Vinod Chandran and N V Anjaria, instead trained its guns on the perennial trigger of winter smog: stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana.
“If the suggestions given by the Commission for Air Quality Management are implemented in letter and spirit, stubble burning can be adequately tackled,” the CJI observed.
In a sharp directive, the court ordered the chief secretaries of both states to immediately convene a joint meeting with CAQM officials and ensure “scrupulous implementation” of every anti-stubble-burning measure — from subsidized machinery and bio-decomposers to stricter penal action against violators.
“We will monitor this ourselves. File compliance affidavits by November 24,” the bench warned, scheduling the next hearing for November 25.
The rap on the knuckles came as Delhi recorded its sixth straight “severe” air day, with several stations touching “severe-plus” (AQI >450). Satellite images showed over 1,100 fresh farm-fire incidents in the two states in the past 48 hours alone.
Environmentalists welcomed the court’s refusal to impose blanket bans, arguing permanent GRAP would cripple the economy, but stressed that Punjab and Haryana now face the strictest judicial deadline yet to deliver on promises made every winter since 2017.
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