$~56 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI + W.P.(C) 16495/2025 and CM APPL.67575/2025 MS RATHI STEEL AND POWER LIMITED .....Petitioner Through: Mr. Tanmaya Mehta, Mr. Rupin Bahl, Mr. Dhruv Nayar, Ms. Aastha Arora, Advs. versus COMMISSION FOR AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT IN NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION AND ADJOINING AREAS & ANR. .....Respondents Through: Dr. Abhishek Atrey, Mr. Naveen Gupta, Advs. for R1/ CAQM Mr. Ashish K. Dixit (CGSC) along with Mr. umar Hashmi, Mr. Harshit Chitransh, Ms. Iqra Sheikh, Advs. for R2.

CORAM:

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SACHIN DATTA

O R D E R

% 31.10.2025

1. The present petition has been filed by the petitioner assailing a closure order dated 28.10.2025 issued by the respondent no.1(Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas), whereby, it has been directed as under: -

“NOW, THEREFORE, in view of the above and in exercise of the powers of the Commission by the Enforcement Task Force, under Section 1 2(2) (xi) of the Act, read with explanation, the following directions are issued to the said unit for strict compliance:

1. The unit shall immediately close down all its industrial operations /

activities on receipt of this Direction;

2. The unit shall immediately thereafter report the closure of the unit to the Commission and Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB);

3. The unit, under no circumstances, shall resume operations without prior permission and an order of resumption from the Commission;

4. The PVVNL shall, on receipt of this closure direction shall immediately initiate action towards temporary disconnection of electrical power supply to the site / unit and report the same to the UPPCB project proponent and the Commission, at the earliest but not later than 3 days after the issue of this Direction.

5. In case of failure in compliance with the above directions, the Commission will be constrained to initiate appropriate action, in accordance with provisions under the Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Act, 2021 and other relevant laws.

6. For consideration of resumption of operations in the unit, the following needs to be complied with:

(i) After taking due corrective and preventive measures, in respect of the non-compliances / violations as noted in the closure direction, the project proponent shall report the same to the Regional Officer Ghaziabad of the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board, also under advise to the headquarter office of the UPPCB.

(ii) The Regional Officer, UPPCB shall thereafter verify the corrective and preventive measures initiated by the unit / project proponent and submit a report in this context to the UPPCB headquarter office along with a recommendation for levying of EC charges, as per extant guidelines duly taking cognizance of Standard Schedule for EC charges issued by the Commission vide order dated 01.01.2025 & 05.06.2025.

(iii) The UPPCB shall review the report of the Regional Officer in this context to ascertain effectiveness of actions initiated for compliance, levy appropriate EC charges on the project / unit for all categories of violations as noted in this direction and realise the same, from the proponent. Thereafter, a recommendation towards resumption of activities at the site / industrial unit etc. may be made to the Commission by the HQ office of the UPPCB.

(iv) The Project Proponent shall thereafter also report compliance of all the requisites as above to the Commission, in the form of an affidavit. The indicative procedure and guidelines for processing of the cases for resumption, including the format for the affidavit may be accessed from the Commission’s website www.caqm.nic.in » Closures/Resumptions »GUIDELINES FOR RESUMPTION OF OPERATIONS IN CLOSED UNITS.

(v) In exercise of powers of the Commission under Section 14 of the Act, the Member Secretary, UPPCB shall also initiate action for prosecution under section 14 of the Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital