The Supreme Court has set aside a National Green Tribunal (NGT) order that had cancelled the Environmental Clearance (EC) and Consent to Establish (CTE) granted to M/s Punahchakran Private Limited for setting up a Common Bio-medical Waste Treatment Facility (CBWTF) in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh.
A Bench of Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra held that the NGT had committed an “egregious error” in quashing the second EC and CTE granted to the company.
Background of the Case
Punahchakran had applied for plots E-25 and E-26 in the UPSIDC Industrial Area at Babrala for establishing a CBWTF. The two plots together measured 0.89 acres, below the one-acre requirement under the Revised Guidelines for Common Bio-Medical Waste Treatment and Disposal Facilities, 2016 (RG, 2016).
The company initially obtained an EC and CTE in 2022. Those permissions were later set aside by the NGT in Aniruda Panwar v. Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, primarily because the required land conditions had not been fulfilled. The NGT, however, allowed the company to apply again after obtaining additional land or seeking relaxation of the land requirement.
Punahchakran subsequently sought relaxation. On November 17, 2023, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) permitted the land requirement to be reduced from one acre to 0.89 acres, subject to additional safeguards including stricter emission standards, zero liquid discharge, odour-control measures and real-time monitoring.
The UP SEIAA thereafter granted the second EC, while the UPPCB granted the second CTE, both on December 20, 2023.
Supreme Court’s Observations
A major issue before the Supreme Court was whether the relaxation provision could apply to the site. The NGT had treated Babrala as falling within a Nagar Panchayat with a population below 25 lakh and therefore concluded that the relaxation provision did not apply.
The Supreme Court sought a report from the District Magistrate, Sambhal. The report and other official records showed that the industrial area was actually situated in Village Noorpur under Noorpur Gram Panchayat, outside the Babrala Nagar Panchayat. The Court noted that the area was about 2.6 km from the Nagar Panchayat boundary and fell within rural limits.
The Court also clarified that the RG, 2016 is mandatory because the Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules, 2016 specifically require site selection and other regulatory requirements to follow the CPCB guidelines.
At the same time, the Court held that land procurement was not a strict precondition for merely initiating the EC or CTE process. What mattered was that the necessary land position was satisfied at the relevant appraisal stage. By the time the second EC and CTE were considered, the plots had been allotted to Punahchakran and the required relaxation had already been granted.
On the first Terms of Reference (ToR), the Court held that its validity was not automatically destroyed when the earlier EC was quashed. Since the ToR remained within its validity period and there was no finding that the underlying environmental data had become outdated, the second EC could validly proceed on its basis.
The Court stated:
“The second EC and second CTE were both granted in favour of the appellant on 20.12.2023 after land was allotted to it by the UPSIDA on 19.09.2022 and after relaxation was granted by the CPCB on 17.11.2023.”
Decision
The Supreme Court allowed the appeal and set aside the NGT’s judgment dated July 5, 2024. It held that the NGT had erred in quashing the second EC and second CTE.
Pending applications were also disposed of, and the Registry was directed to forward the judgment to the NGT for circulation to its circuit benches.
Case Details
Case Title: M/s Punahchakran Private Limited v. Indotech Waste Solution & Ors.
Case Number: Civil Appeal No. 7367 of 2024
Judge: Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra
Decision Date: September 7, 2026
-300x169.webp)
