High Court upholds govt’s ban on plastic bags

“Merely because some commercial interests of the petitioners are diluted does not mean that there is no public interest in issuing the impugned notification. We find no good reason to strike down the impugned notification,” a division Bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur said while dismissing the petition by the plastic bag manufacturers.

The bench found no favour with the traders’ plea alleging that their business has come to a standstill after the ban and held that the limitations are undeniably in public interest.

“It is clear that the limitation on the sale,use and storage of plastic bags in certain areas in Delhi has been laid down keeping in view the problem of solid waste management,particularly of plastic bags,which choke drains and enter the food chain thereby potentially causing health risks,” observed the court.

In pursuant to the Delhi High Court’s August 7,2008 order,the NCT government had,on January 7,issued a notification banning the use of plastic bags in shopping malls,five star hotels,restaurants,dairies,and fruits and vegetable outlets under the Environment Protection Act.

The All India Plastic Manufacturers’ Association then approached the court seeking its direction to quash the notification on the ground that they were not consulted before issuing it (the order) and that the ban would hamper their business interest.

“It’s appreciable that the High Court has upheld the cause of the environment. With this ban,the state of Delhi may not face clogged sewers in the way Mumbai does,” said Viond Jain,who had first petitioned against plastic bags.

Six more challans
In action mode since last week,the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) issued six more challans in South Extension on Tuesday. The DPCC had reported 10 violations in Rajouri Garden on Friday. Following this,Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit called a meeting on Saturday issuing instructions to enforce the ban strictly.