Brahmapuram Fire | State Or Cochin Corporation Can File Separate Application Against NGT Order, Will Consider Objectively: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday observed that if the State government or the Kochi Municipal Corporation was aggrieved by the imposition of Rs. 100 crore on the Corporation by the National Green Tribunal, they could approach the Court by way of an application against the same. 

Assuaging the concerns of the Advocate General, who made mention of a particular paragraph in the NGT order that he said runs counter to the directions of the bench, the Division Bench of Justice S.V. Bhatti and Justice Basant Balaji said, 

"They [the State Government or Kochi Corporation] can independently come by way of an application; whichever way we will have to objectively consider it, we will consider". 

The Court made the above observation during the hearing of suo motu proceedings initiated by it in the wake of the fire at the Brahmapuram Solid Waste Management Plant. 

The Principal Bench of the National Green Tribunal had come down heavily on the state authorities for their failure in managing the waste effectively at the Brahmapuram waste dumping yard, which had led to the major fire outbreak at the site on March 2. It has imposed a fine of Rs. 100 crore on the Kochi Municipal Corporation for the continued neglect of its duties with regard to the site. The Tribunal has said the amount be used for appropriate remedial measures against the damaged cause by the fire and for addressing public health concerns.

The suo motu proceedings were initiated by the NGT based on news reports. 

The High Court had on March 14, 2023, vacated the the stay it had granted in 2018 on the directions passed by the National Green Tribunal to the Kochi Corporation. In October 2018, the NGT had imposed a fine of Rs. 1 Crore on the Cochin Corporation for its delay in setting up a solid waste treatment plant at Brahmapuram in accordance with the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016.

Case Title: Suo Motu v. State of Kerala