SC slams Punjab, Haryana for stubble-burning inaction, summons Chief Secys

The Supreme Court on Wednesday came down heavily on the governments of Punjab and Haryana for non-prosecution of those guilty of stubble burning and directed chief secretaries to appear personally and explain the position on October 23.

"We are giving you one week," the bench of Justices Abhay S Oka, Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Augustine George Masih said while hearing the matter of air pollution in Delhi which the court described as serious.

The SC also rapped the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) as a "toothless tiger," directing it to take penal action against Haryana and Punjab government officials for failure to prosecute the violators.

The SC asked CAQM what steps it had taken to check stubble burning and to ensure that state governments took the matter seriously. ``Where is the enforcement,’’ SC asked CAQM.

The bench said this is not a political matter.

"If the chief secretary is acting at somebody's behest, we will issue summons against them as well. Next Wednesday we are going to physically call the chief secretary and explain everything. Nothing has been done (in Haryana), same is with the Punjab government. The attitude is complete defiance, SC said. About Punjab, the SC added that not a single prosecution has been carried out in the past three years.