Overview
- Chief Justice B.R. Gavai suggested considering penal provisions, including selective arrests, to deter stubble burning rather than granting farmers blanket immunity.
- The Court directed the CAQM, CPCB and state pollution boards to file concrete anti-pollution measures within three weeks ahead of the winter smog season.
- Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Punjab, along with CAQM and CPCB, were ordered to fill critical vacancies within three months, with immediate stopgaps allowed.
- The government’s law officer said prosecutions under the Environment Protection Act are not being pursued as policy and that the CAQM law exempts farmers, a stance the bench questioned.
- Punjab’s counsel cited a drop in reported farm fires from about 77,000 to roughly 10,000 and warned against jailing small farmers, as the amicus pointed to structural drivers and reports of burning timed to evade satellite detection; the next hearing is on October 8.