The Delhi High Court has dismissed an appeal of the Haryana State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) against a Single Bench verdict restraining it from prosecuting Maruti Suzuki India Limited for not getting prior environment clearance for its research and development unit and test track in Rohtak.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice R. S. Endlaw, which did not find any merit in the appeal, observed in its judgment on Monday that the matter was being pursued “to satisfy the ego of some officers”.
The High Court’s May 26 order, challenged before the Division Bench, was passed with the consent of both the parties, restraining the Haryana Authority from initiating proceedings against Maruti. The SEIAA contended in its appeal that the law on environmental matters did not provide for “amicable settlement” of disputes.
The Single Bench had held that if the validity of a notification, issued in 2006, was upheld and Maruti, as well as its directors, undertook to obtain post facto environmental clearance for its project in Rohtak and all future projects in Haryana, the State will consider not initiating any criminal action against the company.
The Court said no steps had been taken to elicit the comments of the Additional Advocate-General, who would have been in a position to inform on whose instructions he had made the statement before the Single Judge.
In its 21-page judgment, the Division Bench said it was unable to comprehend the argument that the consent earlier given on behalf of the Haryana Authority was contrary to the statute. “It appears that Haryana, at that time, was more interested in the notification [of 2006] as interpreted and enforced by it, being not challenged and the dispute being amicably settled.”
