Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Thursday came down heavily on the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) for what it termed a “belligerent disregard” of repeated court orders aimed at controlling air pollution, warning that salaries of top civic officials could be stopped for non-compliance.
Shared Responsibility Highlighted
The court, while stressing on the need to take steps to improve air quality, emphasized that even the authorities concerned were not living in some alien world. “ You are also not living in an alien world. We are all breathing the same air,” a bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Shyam Suman noted.
In 2023, the court had taken suo motu (on its own) cognisance of increasing air pollution in the court and passed a slew of direction to the civic bodies and other authorities to take steps to mitigate air pollution.
NMMC Commissioner Under Fire
Questioning why the NMMC commissioner had not filed a personal affidavit despite earlier directions, the court remarked, “There is belligerent disregard of the orders of this court by the NMMC commissioner, against whom we propose to pass an order not to draw his salary till further orders.”
The court committee has visited 36 sites which violated air pollution mitigation measures. Of these, 25 are in Mumbai, including the site of proposed new high court complex at BKC.
The bench noted that although NMMC claimed the remaining 11 sites were inspected and action taken, there was “no indication whatsoever” of such action in the affidavit filed by the city engineer, NMMC. It directed a team of officers to visit the 11 sites afresh.
BMC Compliance Questioned
BMC counsel, senior advocate S.U. Kamdar, submitted that of the 600 sites where air quality monitors were required, around 400 had been installed and several stop-work notices were issued. However, the court was unimpressed.
“One thing is clear—only after this court’s orders, you have started taking steps. What were you doing for the last six months?” the bench asked, adding, “We are not here to take stock of the situation. It is not the court’s job to run the municipal corporation.”
The court warned BMC as well, stating, “We will stop your salary also,” when reminded that compliance was a statutory duty.
The bench sought detailed data on air quality monitoring, directing BMC to place on record daily sensor data for three months prior to November 2025, along with month-wise details of installations and central connectivity. “We just want numbers. This will tell its own story,” the court said.
Need for Tiered Response
Advocates Gulnar Mistry and Pooja Thorat highlighted discrepancies between private air quality readings and BMC data, citing Mumbai Marathon day’s readings. They submitted that there was a need to have a graded response for Mumbai, instead of just reacting to the rising air pollution. “Tier and stage based frame work required for Mumbai. We should do it before we reach the stage of Delhi,” Mistry argued.
Noting that affidavits lacked ward-wise details and accountability, the court observed: “There is no genuine and sincere effort made by the BMC, we may pass a similar order as proposed to be passed against the NMMC commissioner.”
The judges also underscored that it was “a very serious issue” and reminded the civic bodies that it has powers to impose exemplary cost against the polluters.
The matter has been kept for further hearing on January 27.
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