Air pollution: SC pulls up pollution watchdog for ‘failing in its duty’

Pulling up the pollution watchdog for seeking a two-month adjournment on temporary closure/relocation of toll plazas at Delhi borders to ease traffic congestion, the Supreme Court on Tuesday directed it to convene a meeting of experts in two weeks and submit a report on major causes behind worsening air pollution in Delhi-NCR.

“Have you been able to identify the causes of pollution? During all these days, a lot of material is coming into the public domain, experts are writing articles, people are having opinions (and) they keep on sending to us by mail. Heavy vehicles are contributing a large part, so the first question is: how do we address that... By holding a meeting on January 2 and telling us that we will come after two months… that’s not acceptable to us. The CAQM is failing in its duty,” a Bench led by CJI Surya Kant told the Commission of Air Quality Management (CAQM).

The Bench – which also included Justice Joymalya Bagchi – made these comments after Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, representing the CAQM, referred to minutes of the meetings with stakeholders and sought two months on the issue of temporary closure/relocation of toll plazas at Delhi borders to ease traffic congestion leading to air pollution control.

The Bench reprimanded the CAQM for lack of “seriousness” in its approach, saying it appeared to be in no hurry to either identify the causes of the worsening Air Quality Index (AQI) in Delhi-NCR or long-term solutions.

It directed the CAQM to convene a meeting of experts in two weeks and submit a report on the major causes of the worsening pollution. It also asked the pollution watchdog to consider long-term solutions in a phased manner, including temporary closure/relocation toll plaza issue, uninfluenced by the stand of various stakeholders.

“Instead of bringing any concrete plan or proposal for some visible long-term remedial measures, (the CAQM) has given a status report which unfortunately does not reflect any seriousness on the part of the authority, which unfortunately is silent on most of the issues raised by this court,” it  said.

“The CAQM appears to be in no hurry... to either identify the causes of the worsening AQI or the long-term solutions. We are, therefore, compelled to issue directions necessary to expedite the identification of causes as well as long-term solutions,” the Bench said.

Amid worsening air quality in Delhi-NCR, the Bench had on December 17, 2025 asked the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to consider either temporarily closing or relocating the nine toll plazas at Delhi’s borders to ease usual massive traffic congestion. Describing the pollution crisis as an "annual feature", it had called for pragmatic solutions to tackle it.

Instead of coming up with a solution, the MCD has filed an affidavit defending the toll plazas as its source of income, it noted. The Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority has also jumped into this and moved an application seeking direction of apportionment of 50 per cent of the environment compensation charge generated at various places in Gurugram, it said.

Refusing to adjourn the matter beyond two weeks, the Bench made it clear that it will deal with the air pollution issue on a continuous basis. It said the first step was the identification of causes of pollution. It posted the PIL filed by environmentalist MC Mehta for further hearing on January 21.

The court said there can’t be a one-go decision such as introduction of electric vehicles without examining the consequences. However, with a long-term plan, better alternatives could be implemented in a phased manner, it said.