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IN THE HIGH COURT OF MADRAS
R. Subbiah, Krishnan Ramasamy, JJ.
Chennai Non Wovens Private Limited Represented By Its Authorised Secretary T Sreenivasan - Appellant
Vs.
State Of Tamil Nadu Represented By Its Secretary To Government Environment And Forest (EC2) Department - Respondent
Writ Petition No. 33453 of 2018, 33461 of 2018, 33463 of 2018, 33738 of 2018, 33770 of 2018, 33897 of 2018, 34243 of 2018, 828 of 2019, 857 of 2019, 1821 of 2019, 1823 of 2019, 1824 of 2019, 1827 of 2019, 1829 of 2019, 1831 of 2019, 1834 of 2019, 2198 of 2019, 2205 of 2019, 2209 of 2019, 2215 of 2019, 3337 of 2019, 3551 of 2019, 3553 of 2019, 3554 of 2019, 3556 of 2019, 3557 of 2019, 3558 of 2019, 3559 of 2019, 3560 of 2019, 3561 of 2019, 3562 of 2019, 3564 of 2019, 3568 of 2019, 3984 of 2019, 4487 of 2019, 13040 of 2019, 4492 of 2019
Decided On : 11-07-2019
Constitution of India - Articles 14/19/21/ - Environment Act - Section 5 - public interest - environmental damage and health hazard - Government of Tamil Nadu passed G.O. Ms. No.84, Environment and Forest Department dated 25.06.2018 ordering that the use and throw away plastics such as plastic carry bags etc., will be banned with effect from 01.01.2019. The aforesaid order was passed by the Government pursuant to an announcement made by the Chief Minister of the State on the floor of the Legislative Assembly with a view to make the State plastic free and to ban one time use of throw away plastics in exercise of the powers conferred under Section 5 of The Environment (Protection) Act (hereinafter referred to as The Act). As all these writ petitions assail the validity and/or legality of the order passed by the Government, we deem it appropriate to verbatim extract the order passed in G.O. Ms. No.84 dated 25.06.2018, which reads as follows – Held, Before we conclude, we wish to observe that slowly and steadily, plastic had infiltrated and intruded into our daily lives and the large scale use of plastic, for the purpose to which it was not intended to, had in fact sounded a death knell to our ecology and environment. By virtue of burgeoning use of plastics for all purposes, it resulted in mounting of garbage strewn all through the lanes and by-lanes of the streets and the Municipal authorities throughout the State find it an uphill task to deal with the situation. Above all, plastics which are meant for single use are certainly a menace inasmuch as it is littered at the drop of a hat. The more the easier the production of plastic, as we could infer, be it one time use and throw away plastic or other similar nature of product, the more easily it is thrown away in the bins or strewn haphazardly, which causes great concern to the environment and it is a huge pollution menace. As per the scientific study, it is estimated that some items of plastics will take atleast 100 years to decompose. There are also data available in the internet to conclude that plastic wastes have been mistaken for food by numerous animals, mainly marine creatures and other domestic animals such as dogs, buffaloes and cows and large quantities of plastics have been found in the stomachs of many dead animals. The toxic contents in the plastic had the tendency to cause harm to vital organs or biological functions of marine as well as domestic animals. Cumulatively, plastic profoundly affected animals in aquatic, marine and terrestrial eco-systems. Further, when discarded in earth, the plastic items had the tendency to destruct and decline the quality of soil in the earth, which is also a greatest cause for concern. We also take note of the fact that increasing urbanisation and population growth is also considerably contributing and accounting for plastic pollution, especially the demand for cheaper and readily available materials such as wrappers, plastic water bottles, straws and food containers are easily available and accessed. We wish to observe that restaurants/food production units are causing greater harm than estimated by usage of the plastic covers for packing food items and the rise in usage of these products is alarming. This had in fact woken up environmentalists, natural lovers as well as the government to slowly think of getting rid of plastics which are meant for single use so as to save the earth and planet – petition dismissed
JUDGMENT:
R. Subbiah, J.
These batch of writ petitions have been filed by the petitioners, who are manufacturers of various forms of plastics. The writ petitions have been filed either individually or through an association involving several members. They have come forward with these writ petitions questioning the order passed by the Government of Tamil Nadu banning manufacturing, storage and distribution of certain items of plastics. The petitioners have assailed the order passed by the Government on various grounds, including infringement of their fundamental right guaranteed to them under Articles 14, 19 (1) (g) and 21 of The Constitution of India.
2. For the sake of convenience, these writ petitions are classified and/or categorised into three types and they are (i) manufacturers of non-oven plastic carry bags (ii) manufacturers of paper cups and (iii) manufacturers of plastic carry bags.
3. The Government of Tamil Nadu passed G.O. Ms. No.84, Environment and Forest Department dated 25.06.2018 ordering that the use and throw away plastics such as plastic carry bags etc., will be banned with effect from 01.01.2019. The aforesaid order was passed by the Government pursuant to an announcement made by the Chief Minister of the State on the floor of the Legislative Assembly with a view to make the State plastic free and to ban one time use of throw away plastics in exercise of the powers conferred under Section 5 of The Environment (Protection) Act (hereinafter referred to as The Act). As all these writ petitions assail the validity and/or legality of the order passed by the Government, we deem it appropriate to verbatim extract the order passed in G.O. Ms. No.84 dated 25.06.2018, which reads as follows:-
And Whereas Article 48-A of The Constitution of India, inter alia, envisages that the State shall endeavour to protect and improve the environment.
And Whereas, it has come to the knowledge of the Government that the use of 'use and throwaway plastics' such as plastic carry bags, plastic sheets used for food wrapping, spreading on dining table etc., plastic plates, plastic coated tea cups and plastic tumbler, water pouches and packets, plastic straw and plastic flags are causing serious environmental hazards and health problems amongst human beings as well as plants and animals.
And Whereas, it is observed that the plastic wastes are also causing blockage of sewers and drains apart from resulting in pollution of water bodies.
And whereas, with a view to prevent the recurrence of such problems, the State Government have decided to issue the following directions imposing ban on manufacture, storage, supply, sale and use of 'use of throwaway plastics' such as plastic sheets used for food wrapping, spreading on dining tables etc., plastic plates, plastic coated tea cups and plastic tumbler, water pouches and packets, plastic straw, plastic carry bag and plastic flags irrespective of thickness.
Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred under Section 5 of The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 (Central Act 29 of 1986) read with Government of India, Ministry of Environment and Forests Notification No. S.O. 152 (E) dated 10th February 1988, the Government of Tamil Nadu hereby issues the following directions:-
2. This notification will come into force on the first January 2019.
The Directions
1. (a) No industry or person shall manufacture, store, supply, transport, sale or distribute 'use and throwaway plastics'.
(b) No person including shopkeeper, vendor, wholesaler, retailer, trader, hawker or salesmen shall use 'use and throwaway plastics'.
Provided that the plastic used for the following purposes are exempted
(a) The plastic carry bags manufactured exclusively for export purpose against any export order in a plastic industry located in Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and Export Oriented Units (EOU)
(
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