Patna High CourtSalimullah vs The State Of Bihar And Ors on 28 June, 2022Bench:Chief Justice,S. KumarIN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA\n                     Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.9410 of 2017\n     ======================================================\n     Salimullah S/o Late Khalid Khan Resident of Nawgharwa Road Near Edare -\n     Sharia, P.S. - Sultanganj and District - Patna.\n\n                                                                   ... ... Petitioner/s\n                                          Versus\n1.   The State Of Bihar\n2.   District Magistrate, Patna.\n3.   Senior Superintendent of Police, Patna.\n4.   Commissioner, Patna Municipal Corporation, Patna.\n5.   Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Patna City.\n6.   S.H.O Sultanganj Police Station, Patna.\n7.   Mahesh Prasad, S/o Late Ram Nath Ram, Residence/Mohalla- Khan Mirza,\n     P.S.- Sultanganj, Patna.\n8.   Md. Afzal, Son of Late Md. Idris, Resident of Mohalla- Garam Tola, P.S.-\n     Sultanganj, District- Patna.\n\n                                                             ... ... Respondent/s\n     ======================================================\n                                         with\n                   Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No. 15858 of 2017\n     ======================================================\n     Saroj Kumar S/o Sri Lakhan Lal, Resident of Mohalla- Rajput Toli, Arfabad,\n     P.O.- Gulzarbagh, P.S.- Alamganj, District- Patna.\n\n                                                                   ... ... Petitioner/s\n                                          Versus\n1.   The State Of Bihar\n2.   The Bihar State Pollution Control Board through Secretary, Patna, Bihar.\n3.   District Magistrate, Patna.\n4.   Senior Superintendent of Police, Patna.\n5.   Commissioner, Patna Municipal Corporation, Patna.\n6.   Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Patna City.\n7.   S.H.O. Alamganj, Police Station, Patna.\n\n                                               ... ... Respondent/s\n     ======================================================\n     Appearance :\n     (In Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No. 9410 of 2017)\n     For the Petitioner/s      :       Mr. Hansa Jha, Advocate\n                                       Mrs. Shweta Pandey, Advocate\n                                       Mrs. Manisha Pandey, Advocate\n                                       Mr. Nirbhay Kumar Singh, Advocate\n                                       Mr. Dhirendra Kumar Singh, Advocate\n Patna High Court CWJC No.9410 of 2017 dt.28-06-2022\n                                           2/7\n\n\n\n\n                                         Mr. Pratyush Pratap Singh, Advocate\n       For the Respondent/s     :        Mr. Sarvesh Kumar Singh, AAG-13\n                                         Mr. Shivendra Kishore, Sr. Advocate\n       (In Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No. 15858 of 2017)\n       For the Petitioner/s      :       Mr. Deepak Kumar, Advocate\n                                         Mrs. Shweta Pandey, Advocate\n                                         Mrs. Shweta Pandey, Advocate\n       For the Respondent/s      :       Mr. Sarvesh Kumar Singh, AAG-13\n                                         Mr. Shivendra Kishore, Sr. Advocate\n       ======================================================\n       CORAM: HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE\n               and\n               HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE S. KUMAR\n       ORAL JUDGMENT(Per: HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE)\n\n         Date : 28-06-2022\n\n\n                         Heard learned counsel for the parties.\n\n                         Petitioners have prayed for the following relief(s):-Patna High Court CWJC No.9410 of 2017 dt.28-06-20223/7On 2nd of March, 2020, we had passed the\n\n         following order:-"From the affidavit dated 25th of February, 2020, sworn\n\n                 by Shri Ashish Kumar Gupta, Environmental Engineer, Bihar\n\n                 State Pollution Control Board, it is apparent that now action\n\n                 stands taken by the Pollution Control Board in closing down\n\n                 the units which were running without legal sanction.The chart submitted in a tabular form, indicating the\n Patna High Court CWJC No.9410 of 2017 dt.28-06-20224/7status of the units in the area in question, is reproduced herein\n\n                 under:-Sl. No.                Particulars       No.     of\n                                                                Unit(s)1.        Permanently                    58Closed/Closed2.        White category units           093.        Units operational with 06\n                                 CTE and without CTO.\n\n                       4.        Units operational without 11\n                                 CTE and CTO\n\n                       5.        Units operational          with 09\n                                 Consent    obeying          the\n                                 consent conditions\n\n                       6.        Units operational with 12\n                                 consent    but    violating\n                                 consent conditionsWe notice from Paragraphs 8, 9 and 10 of the very\n\n                 same affidavit that directions for closing such of those units\n\n                 which are being run without legal sanction also stands issued.Paragraphs 8, 9 and 10 of the affidavit dated 25 th of\n\n                 February, 2020 reads as under:-"8. That the units falling under Sl. no. 3, 4 and 6 are\n                                 amenable to actions for violation of the\n                                 provisions of theAir Actand the Board has\n                                 already issued 'Proposed Direction for Closure'\n Patna High Court CWJC No.9410 of 2017 dt.28-06-20225/7to the 06 units falling under Sl. no. 3 vide its\n                                 order dated 30-11-2019, & has issued closure\n                                 direction and finally have filed complaint case\n                                 against the units falling at sl. no. 4 of table\n                                 above. The above mentioned actions were taken\n                                 on basis of findings of the inspection carried out\n                                 by the Board on 06-11-2019.9.   That with respect to 14 units identified by the\n                                 Advocate commissioners which are functional\n                                 with valid CTOs but violate one or more\n                                 conditions of the CTO it is to be stated that\n                                 'Proposed Direction' under Section 31A of the\n                                 Air Act, 1981, has been served upon 11 such\n                                 units and with respect to remaining three units it\n                                 is humbly submitted that unit at sl. no. 50, M/S\n                                 Trishul Furniture, does not have a valid CTO\n                                 and it has only taken 'Consent-to-Establish'\n                                 (CTE) and as such 'Proposed Direction for\n                                 Closure' has been issued against this unit vide\n                                 order dated 05.02.2020. Unit at sl. no. 65, M/S\n                                 Top Steel falls in 'White Category' and as such\n                                 it is exempted from consent mechanism. Unit at\n                                 sl. no. 60, M/S Ideal Steel, has already been\n                                 served with 'Closure Direction', however,\n                                 during inspection it was found to be operational\n                                 and as such a complaint case will be instituted\n                                 against it.10. That with respect to 4 units identified by the\n                                 Advocate commissioners, which were found to\n                                 be operational without consents, it is humbly\n                                 submitted that 'Proposed Direction for Closure'\n Patna High Court CWJC No.9410 of 2017 dt.28-06-20226/7has been issued against two such units and\n                                 Closure Direction' has been issued against two\n                                 such units and complaint case has also been\n                                 instituted against these two units."Let action taken report with regard to the closing of\n\n                 such units be filed by the Pollution Control Board as also by\n\n                 the respondent-State.We further direct that henceforth the Pollution Control\n                 Board shall not issue any No Objection Certificate for\n                 establishing any unit in the area in question, which is\n                 residential. However, we clarify that No Objection Certificates\n                 may be issued strictly in accordance with law.Parties to exchange the pleadings within one week.\n\n                         List on 04.05.2020."Today, a supplementary counter affidavit stands\n\n         filed on behalf of the Pollution Control Board, clearly stating\n\n         that out of 124 units which were inspected, 77 units were closed\n\n         and are non-functional. With respect to the other units, action in\n\n         accordance with law stands taken.In this view of the matter, we are inclined to close\n\n         the present proceedings further directing the Pollution Control\n\n         Board to carry out periodical inspections for checking as to\n\n         whether any unauthorised and illegal activity, commercial in\n              Patna High Court CWJC No.9410 of 2017 dt.28-06-20227/7nature, is being carried out in a residential area.Equally, it is open for the petitioners to agitate the\n\n                      issue afresh with the authorities, including the Pollution Control\n\n                      Board.Needless to add, the Pollution Control Board shall\n\n                      not grant any N.O.C. with respect to any industry which is not\n\n                      permissible to be established or made functional in a residential\n\n                      area.The present application stands disposed of in the\n\n                      aforesaid terms.Interlocutory Application(s), if any, shall stand\n\n                      disposed of.(Sanjay Karol, CJ)\n\n\n                                                                (S. Kumar, J)\nAmrendra/PKP\nAFR/NAFR\nCAV DATE\nUploading Date          30.06.2022\nTransmission Date