Overview

• CJI B.R. Gavai said jailing some offenders would "send the correct message" and pressed for enforcing penalty provisions against agriculturists who burn crop residue.
• The bench warned states to "take a call" on stricter deterrents or face a possible mandamus from the court.
• The court directed the CPCB and CAQM, and the governments of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, to complete recruitment to pollution-control bodies within three months.
• The bench questioned why a year-round firecracker ban applies only to Delhi-NCR, indicating that other cities also deserve equal clean-air protections.
• Amicus submissions cited years of subsidies for residue-management machinery and referenced biofuel uses for stubble, as counsel for Punjab cautioned against blanket punishment of marginal farmers.