The Supreme Court has held that the Revised Guidelines for Common Bio-Medical Waste Treatment and Disposal Facilities, 2016 are mandatory and legally enforceable.
A Bench of Justice J B Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra set aside the National Green Tribunal’s July 5, 2024 order and restored the Environmental Clearance (EC) and Consent to Establish (CTE) granted to M/s Punahchakran Private Limited for its bio-medical waste treatment facility at Babrala, Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh.
The Court held that the Guidelines, issued under the statutory framework governing bio-medical waste facilities, prescribe binding requirements relating to authorisation, site selection and operations. It also ruled that their publication on the CPCB website was sufficient to make them enforceable, even in the absence of Gazette publication.
The Bench upheld the relaxation of the one-acre land requirement to 0.89 acres, noting that the facility was located in a rural area and the required consultation with the CPCB and safeguards had been undertaken.
The Court further held that completed land allotment is not a pre-condition for initiating the EC process or applying for CTE. At the appraisal stage, however, the project proponent must produce credible documentation regarding the status of land acquisition or allotment.
It also clarified that quashing an EC does not automatically invalidate the Terms of Reference (ToR), unless the defect affects the Form 1 application or the ToR themselves.
Finding that the requisite statutory conditions and safeguards had been fulfilled for the second EC and CTE, the Supreme Court rejected the NGT’s findings and restored the clearances granted to the facility.
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