Regional Officer has jurisdiction to take sample of water from trade effluent.

M/s.Gangappa Paper Mills Ltd., is located at Vadakathu village, Panruti Taluk, South Arcot District. Its Managing Director is one T.G.Krishnamurthy.

2. The said mills manufactures paper with paddy, straw, cotton rags and waste paper as raw materials. The various chemicals used in the process are rosin, soapstone, limealu caustic lye, chlorine etc. It manufactures 900 tonnes of paper with an intermediate product of 810 tonnes of pulp a month.

3. The industry in its letter dated 9. 1982 had applied for consent of the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (for short ‘the Board’) for discharge of sewage/trade effluent under Sec.26 of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 (for short ‘the Act’). The industry informed that 7,300 kilolitres of trade effluent per day was discharged into a nullah. It was further reported that the trade effluent was treated in primary clarifier, anaerobic lagoon, aerobic lagoon and secondary clarifier.

4. Consent was issued to the industry in the Board’s proceedings dated 1. 1984, subject to the condition that all units of treatment plant already contemplated or required to be contemplated to achieve the quality of effluent according to the tolerance limits prescribed by the Board should be completed within three months from the date of consent order.

5. The Regional Officer of the Board made an inspection of the industry on 22. 1984 and on that date, it was noticed that a part of the treatment system was not working. The industry was therefore advised to expedite the operation of the treatment system early.

6.Against, there was an inspectionon 15. 1984 by the Regional Officer of the Board and on that date, it was found that the industry was not running and some mechanical equipments in the treatment units had been sent for repairs. The industry was advised to rectify the defects in the existing treatment system.

7. The progress on the improvements of the existing treatment system to make the quality of effluent to satisfy the standards prescribed by the Board in the consent order was pursued by the Board and the industry had been representing that they had been trying their best to conform to the requirements of the Board.

8. The industry was inspected on 29. 1984 and sample of treated trade effluent was collected, in the presence of officials of the industry and sent for analysis as per the provisions of Sec.21 of the Act and Rule 25 of the Tamil Nadu Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Rules, 1983 (for short ‘the Rules’). The report of analysis of treated trade effluent revealed that the trade effluent did not satisfy the standards prescribed by the Board.

9. Inasmuch as the industry did not treat the trade effluent to the standards prescribed by the Board in the consent order, the industry had contravened the provisions of Sec.26, punishable under Sec.44 of the Act.

10. The above facts were placed before the Board at its thirteenth meeting held on 12. 1985 and it was decided by the Board to launch prosecution against M/s.Gangappa Paper Mills Limited under Sec.44 of the Act.

11. In giving effect to the resolution of the Hoard, Thiru G.Rangasamy, Member-Secretary in-charge of the Board represented by Thiru K-Ranganathan, Regional Officer of the Board, lodged a com plaint against Thiru T.G.Krishnamoorthy, Managing Director alone originally for the aforesaid alleged offence, which was originally taken on tile in C.C.No.145 of 1985 on the file of the Judicial First Class Magistrate, Cuddalore.

12. The case subsequently got transferred and numbered as C.C.No.162 of 1985 on the file of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, South Arcot District at Cuddalore.

13. After commencement of the trial, the prosecution filed an application under Sec.319 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 in Crl.M.P.No.489 of 1986 for impleading M/s.Gangappa Paper Mills Limited as an accused. That petition had been stoutly resisted. However, that petition had been ordered as prayed for. Agg