Overview
- A division bench of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G.M. Mohiuddin declined to hear the PIL on its merits.
- The petitioner, law student Aakula Sampath Kumar, cited a Jal Shakti directorate report alleging industrial and urban effluents — including from neighbouring states — are degrading water quality, harming aquatic life and contaminating downstream supplies.
- The court held that environmental issues spanning multiple states fall within the National Green Tribunal’s nationwide jurisdiction and technical competence.
- The judges noted the NGT’s statutory mandate to enforce key environment laws, including the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
- The PIL was disposed of with liberty to approach the NGT after the court rejected the plea to invoke broader constitutional powers.