The Supreme Court, on Friday, stayed the National Green Tribunal (NGT) order imposing Rs 1,000 crore penalty on the Punjab government for failure to manage legacy waste and untreated sewage.

A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, Justice J B Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra asked the Centre and the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to respond to the appeal by the Punjab government against the green tribunal’s order.

Advertisement

The NGT had asked the Punjab government to deposit a fine with the Central Pollution Control Board as environment compensation. It said repeated orders were passed in the hope that the state government would take serious, substantial and urgent steps to comply with provisions of Environmental Laws.

Noting that the Punjab government has miserably failed to comply with its order, the NGT said stringent, punitive and preventive action is required against the Punjab government for the non-compliance of environmental laws while imposing fine against the state government.