Mumbai: The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to state govt on a challenge to Bombay high court’s orders that permitted manufacture and immersion of plaster of paris (PoP) idols in natural water bodies despite the prohibition under the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB’s) May 2020 revised guidelines.Chief Justice of India Bhushan Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran directed the issue of notice also to CPCB, Maharashtra Pollution Control Board and civic bodies, including BMC. The special leave petition (SLP) was filed by activists Rohit Joshi, Harshad Dhage and Sarita Khanchandani (now deceased) and nine clay Ganpati idol makers.The SLP impugned HC’s June 9 order that modified its Jan 30 order and lifted the ban on manufacture and sale of PoP idols. This order proceeded on an erroneous legal premise, leading to “consequential and unlawful dilution” of the prohibition against PoP use. The HC further “compounded” the error in its subsequent July 24 order permitting the state to implement its July 22 immersion policy to allow PoP Ganpati idols exceeding 5ft in natural bodies. Despite the petitioners’ objections, the HC directed an increase in the permissible height to 6ft till March 2026.The petition said the HC erred in accepting CPCB’s expert committee’s statement that its revised guidelines on idol immersion were advisory and not binding. It stated that any change to the May 2020 revised guidelines could only have been effectuated through a formal revision. The expert committee’s members were “selectively” shown a May 2013 order of National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) Pune bench and a July 2022 order of Telangana HC. There were several further orders of various benches of NGT, and Bombay and Madras HCs which upheld the revised guidelines. “The impugned orders, if allowed to stand, will not only cause irreparable damage to natural water bodies across Maharashtra but will also set a dangerous precedent undermining the sanctity of environmental guidelines issued by statutory authorities,” the petition added.The SLP had urged SC to grant special leave to appeal against HC’s orders and pass further orders. Also, interim relief of stay due to the ensuing Ganeshotsav festivities. In the absence of SC’s urgent intervention, “lakhs of PoP idols will be manufactured and immersed in rivers, lakes and the sea leading to irreversible pollution and ecological degradation,” it stated. Senior advocate Anitha Shenoy said the 2020 guidelines were operationalised in 2021 and there were 13 orders of various courts, including SC, that upheld them. She said the petitioners “do not want anything till the festivities are over”. The SC posted the hearing after four weeks.
