Kerala: PIL in HC against Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar
The Union Minister has been accused of filing false affidavit in his nomination form for contesting the upcoming LS poll.
The Kerala High Court on Tuesday quashed the ban imposed by the state government on the manufacture, transportation, use, and sale of non-woven plastic bags of 60 grams per square meter (GSM) and above.
Quashing the ban imposed by the state government,a single bench of Justice N Nagaresh observed that the state has no power to enforce such a ban.
The High Court said that only the Central government can issue such an order under waste management rules to regulate or restrict the use of plastics.”I find that inclusion of non-woven bags in the list of banned single-use plastic items by Government Orders without regard to the GSM standards and in violation of the provisions of the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016 is highly illegal and arbitrary,” the court said.
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The order of the court came in two petitions-one filed by a proprietor engaged in the production of non-woven bags and the second plea by members of the registered association of the manufacturers of non-woven bags in Kerala.
The court noted that the Central government had amended the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016 providing that non-woven plastic carry bags shall not be less than 60 GSM from September 30, 2021.
The HC held that the petitioners are legally entitled to manufacture and sell non-woven plastic carry bags of 60 GSM and above and the ban imposed on the manufacture of non-woven bags violates their fundamental rights under Articles 19 and 21.
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