The court emphasized the necessity of a clear and consistent statutory framework for environmental protection due to recent legislative amendments.

O R D E R

1. We have delivered our judgment in the case of DPCC v.

Lodhi Properties today.

2. While considering the matter, certain amount of asymmetry in the governing statutes, the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1974, Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1981, and Environment (Protection) Act 1986, has come to light. This asymmetry seems have been aggravated with the advent of the amendments introduced in 2024 to the Water and Air Acts.

Signature Not Verified

3. The Water Act, 1974 was amended through the Water Digitally signed by KAPIL TANDON Date: 2025.08.14

19:37:05 IST Reason:

(Prevention and Control of Pollution) Amendment Act, 2024. The amendments to the Water Act have come into force only in the States of Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan and the Union territories on 15.02.2024, and will come into force in other states as and when suitable resolutions are passed by the State Legislatures. Through the passage of the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act , 2023, the Air Act was amended, and the amendments came into force on 01.04.2024.

4. Significant part of the amendments has been the substitution of imprisonment with fines for a large number of offences and the introduction of a civil adjudicatory process. This is in line with the objective stated in the preamble of the two amending statutes. The preamble to the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Amendment Act, 2024 declares the purpose of the amendment as, “AND WHEREAS it is considered necessary to make certain amendments thereto for decriminalising and rationalising minor offences to further enhance trust-based governance for ease of living and doing business;”

5. The Jan Vishwas Act 2023, similarly introduced amendments to the Air Act and the Environment (Protection) Act 1986, with the same purpose declaring, “An Act to amend certain enactments for decriminalising and rationalising offences to further enhance trust-based governance for ease of living and doing business.”

6. After amendments, several offences under Chapter VII and VI of the Water and Air Acts respectively can be addressed through a monetary penalty and not by way of imprisonment. The maximum penalty that may be imposed is fifteen lakh rupees. Punishment by way of imprisonment is however retained only for a limited number of contraventions, such as failure to comply with requirements of obtaining consent and failure to pay penalty or the additional penalty amount.1

7. To determine the penalty under the amended provisions, the Central government has to appoint officers not below the rank of Joint Secretary to the Government of India, or a Secretary to the State Government as Adjudicating Officers.2 Once a complaint is filed, the Adjudicating Officers are expected to hold an inquiry to determine whether the contravention has taken place and if it has, to impose and collect the penalties. In case of contravention or non-compliance of directions issued under Section 33A of the

1 Section 45E of Water Act and Section 39D of Air Act. 2 Section 45B of Water Act and Section 39A of Air Act.

Water or Section 31A of the Air Act, the Adjudicatory Officer has jurisdiction to decide a complaint. An appeal against the order of an Adjudicating Officer lies before the National Green Tribunal.3

8. To guide the adjudicatory process, the Central Government has issued the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) (Manner of Holding Inquiry and Imposition of Penalty) Rules, 2024 on 11.11.2024. Similar Rules have been issued under the Air Act on 12.11.2024.

9. It is important to note that Section 33A of the Water Act and Section 31A of the Air Act have not been amended. At the same time, the legal regime regarding offences and consequent penalties under the two Acts, that were identical, are now in variance. The reason is that the amended Water Act has not come into effect in all the states.

10. Statutory framework l