After Supreme Court Rap, Centre Doubles Penalties For Stubble Burning; Farmers To Pay Up To Rs. 30,000 For Violations

The Central Government has issued an amendment to the Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas (Imposition, Collection, and Utilization of Environmental Compensation for Stubble Burning) Rules, 2023.

This amendment, notified on November 6, 2024, by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, doubles the rates of environmental compensation for stubble burning in the National Capital Region (NCR) and surrounding states.

According to the amendment, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) may now impose environmental compensation on farmers engaged in stubble burning as follows:

1. Farmers with landholding less than two acres must pay Rs. 5,000 per incident.

2. Farmers with landholding between two and five acres must pay Rs. 10,000 per incident.

3. Farmers with landholding exceeding five acres must pay Rs. 30,000 per incident.

This replaces the previous compensation rates set in 2023, which were Rs. 2,500 for land under two acres, Rs. 5,000 for land between two and five acres, and Rs. 15,000 for land exceeding five acres.

The Commission issued a letter directing for strict compliance with these amended rules, emphasizing that Nodal or Supervisory Officers from the governments of Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh must be appointed to monitor stubble-burning incidents and ensure accurate reporting. These officers are also authorized to impose and collect the environmental compensation fees.

The amendment comes amid Supreme Court proceedings on stubble burning-related pollution. On October 23, a bench of Justice Abhay Oka, Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah, and Justice Augustine George Masih criticised the Union and states of Punjab and Haryana for imposing nominal fines on farmers who violated the ban on stubble burning.

The Court questioned why CAQM had not framed appropriate rules under Section 15 of the CAQM Act to prescribe environmental compensation rates, emphasizing that the Commission is responsible for setting these rates without reliance on formula by the National Green Tribunal. The Court highlighted that proper environmental compensation rules are essential, particularly as penal provisions do not apply to farmers under the proviso to Section 14(1) of the CAQM Act.

The bench noted that Punjab and Haryana governments were not consistently applying penal provisions, with many cases resulting in only nominal fines or minimal environmental compensation.

The Court had also criticized the Union Government's inaction regarding Section 15 of the Environment Protection Act (EPA), which had been amended through the Jan Vishwas Amendment Act. This amendment replaced punishment with penalties for violations under the EPA, but the necessary machinery for implementing these changes has not yet been put in place, rendering Section 15 “toothless,” as noted by the Court. The Court remarked that enforcement authorities have been left powerless to take meaningful action against environmental violations, and violators now effectively go unpunished.