Court not to sit as a Court of appeal over the decisions of Authorities.

Chief Justice:

These two writ petitions are being disposed off by this common judgment.

2. Heard the learned counsel for the parties. We have perused the records in the above two writ petitions.

3. The writ petitions relate to allegations of pollution by Tanneries.

4. W.P.No.15244 of 2004 has been filed praying for the issue of a Writ of Certiorarified Mandamus to quash the Consent Order dated 16.8.2002 issued by the first respondent/Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board in favour of the 2nd respondent/The Perundari Leather Industries Eco Security Private Limited (hereinafter called ‘PLIES’).

5. W.P.No.1682 of 2003 has been filed praying that no tanneries should be set up in and around Perundurai, as it would cause damage to the drinking water, as well as water used for agriculture purposes.

6. The petitioner in W.P.No.15244 of 2004 claims to be a Welfare Society registered under Section 10 of the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975. It is alleged in paragraph-3 of the affidavit filed in support of this petition that there are about 800 tanneries situated in the State of Tamil Nadu, of which about 550 are in Vellore district, 100 in Dindigul district, 150 located in Pammal and Pallavaram and 50 tanneries in Erode and some in Trichy District. It is alleged that these tanneries let out effluents, which contain Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) not less than 10000 to 15000 mg/1 litre. The outer limit fixed for discharge of TDS is only 2100 mg/per 1 litre for the tanneries.

7. The Supreme Court in VELLORE CITIZENS’ WELFARE FORUM Vs. UNION OF INDIA (1996) 5 SCC 647 gave several directions relating to tanneries in the State of Tamil Nadu. In the above decision, taking into account the various considerations, the Supreme Court issued the following directions:-

1. The Central Government shall constitute an authority under Section 3(3) of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and shall confer on the said authority all the powers necessary to deal with the situation created by the tanneries and other polluting industries in the State of Tamil Nadu. The authority shall be headed by a retired Judge of the High Court and it may have other members — preferably with expertise in the field of pollution control and environment protection — to be appointed by the Central Government. The Central Government shall confer on the said authority the powers to issue directions under Section 5 of the Environment Act and for taking measures with respect to the matters referred to in clauses (v), (vi), (vii), (viii), (ix), (x) and (xii) of sub-section (2) of Section 3. The Central Government shall constitute the authority before September 30, 1996.

2. The authority so constituted by the Central Government shall implement the “Precautionary Principle” and the “Polluter Pays Principle”. The authority shall, with the help of expert opinion and after giving opportunity to the polluters concerned assess the loss to the ecology/environment in the affected areas and shall also identify the individuals/families who have suffered because of the pollution and shall assess the compensation to be paid to the said individuals/families. The authority shall further determine the compensation to be recovered from the polluters as cost of reversing the damaged environment. The authority shall lay down just and fair procedure for completing the exercise.

3. The authority shall compute the compensation under two heads namely, for reversing the ecology and for payment to individuals. A statement showing the total amount to be recovered, the names of the polluters from whom the amount is to be recovered, the amount to be recovered from each polluter, the persons to whom the compensation is to be paid and the amount payable to each of them shall be forwarded to the Collectors/District Magistrates of the area concerned. The Collector/District Magistrate shall recover the amount from the polluters, if necessary, as arrears of land revenue. He shall disburse the compensat