National Green Tribunal (NGT): Full Bench of Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel (Chairperson) and Justice S.P. Wangdi (Judicial Member)and Dr Nagin Nanda (Expert Member) asked CPCB to consider an environmental audit of certain entities.
Present applications sought enforcement of ‘Extended Producer Responsibility’ under the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016.
The first petition sought enforcement of liability against Amazon and Flipkart using excessive plastic packaging material without meeting the statutory liability.
On earlier occasions, the matter was considered wherein it was observed that the statutory regulators were not taking coercive measures including invoking of “Polluter Pays Principle” for enforcing the statutory norms.
Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) was directed to look into the matter and file a further report.
CPCB in its report mentioned reasons of why the law was not enforced but does not mention the coercive measures adopted either directly by CPCB or in coordination with State PCBs/PCCs.
Further, the tribunal stated that CPCB can also consider ordering an environmental audit against the entities concerned and assess and recover compensation for violation of environmental norms.
Matter to be considered on 14-10-2020. [Aditya Dubey (Minor) v. Amazon Retail India (P) Ltd., 2020 SCC OnLine NGT 228, decided on 10-09-2020]
