NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear on December 3 a plea concerning the deteriorating air quality in the Delhi–National Capital Region (NCR), saying the issue needed to be monitored on a regular basis.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi took note of the submissions of senior advocate Aparajita Singh, who is assisting the Bench as an amicus curiae in the air pollution case, that there is an “alarming situation in Delhi-NCR and it is a health emergency”.
“What magic wand can a judicial forum exercise? I know this is hazardous for Delhi NCR… Tell me what we can do? Can we make some directions and there is clean air immediately? We all know what the problem is. We need to identify all the reasons. There is no one single reason. It could be a bona fide mistake to think that. But only domain experts and scientists can look into that,” the CJI said.
On November 19, the court asked the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to consider directing schools in Delhi-NCR to postpone open-air sports events scheduled for November–December to ‘safer months’ due to toxic air levels. It had declined to impose year-round restrictions under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), an emergency framework that restricts polluting activities in severe conditions, and instead emphasised the need for long-term, sustainable solutions.
However, the CJI agreed to take up the matter on Monday after amicus curiae Aparajita Singh mentioned it for urgent hearing.