Kamaleswar Phangcho and 10 Ors v. The State of Assam and 7 Ors

ORDER

15.02.2024 (Vijay

Bishnoi, CJ) This writ petition, in the design of public interest litigation, is filed by the petitioners with a prayer set aside the action of the respondents of contemplating to establish 300 TPD (0.09 MTPA), VSK (Vertical Shaft Kiln) Clinker Manufacturing Unit and 500 TPD (0.15 MTP) Cement Manufacturing Unit at Village Samata Pathar under Sonapur Mauza in the district of Kamrup (M), Assam and necessary orders in this regard be issued. In the writ petition the petitioners have pleaded that the Pollution Control Board, Assam has invited objections in the public hearing from the public at large including environmental activists, groups, NGOs etc and they apprehend that the Pollution Control Board may not consider the objections Page No.# 4/4 filed by the residents objectively. Learned counsel appearing for the Pollution Control Board has submitted that public hearing was conducted on the scheduled date and the Pollution Control Board has cleared the establishment of the concerned cement manufacturing units and thereafter the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (issued by the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), Assam), Government of India has granted environment clearance to the proposed projects vide order dated 05.01.2024. It is also submitted by the learned counsel for the Pollution Control Board that the proceedings of the public hearing were submitted/uploaded to the SEIAA and the minutes were also uploaded in the PARIVESH portal on 14.10.2023. At this stage, the learned counsel for the petitioners, on instructions, has submitted that he wants to withdraw this writ petition with liberty for the petitioners to challenge the decision of the Pollution Control Board of granting clearance for establishment of the cement manufacturing units in question as well as the decision of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (issued by the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), Assam), Government of India of granting environment clearance to the proposed manufacturing units in question. In view of the above contention of the petitioners' counsel, this writ petition is dismissed with liberty as prayed.

JUDGE CHIEF JUSTICE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010015102024 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oPIL/10/2024o KAMALESWARoPHANGCHOoANDo10oORSo S/OoLATEoDEVOoPHANGCHOo RESIDENToOFoVILLAGEoCHAMATAoPATHAR.oPOoANDoPSoSONAPUR,oDISTo KAMRUPoMoASSAMo782402 2:oURBASIoTUMUNG oW/OoBHAGENoTHUMUNG o RESIDENToOFoVILLAGEoCHAMATAoPATHAR.oPOoANDoPSoSONAPUR oDISToKAMRUPoMoASSAMo782402 3:oSACHINDRAoDAS oS/OoJADUMONIoDASo RESIDENToOFoVILLAGEoCHAMATAoPATHAR.oPOoANDoPSoSONAPUR oDISToKAMRUPoMoASSAMo782402 4:oRAJANIoTARO oS/OoBIHUoTAROo RESIDENToOFoVILLAGEoCHAMATAoPATHAR.oPOoANDoPSoSONAPUR oDISToKAMRUPoMoASSAMo782402 5:oBIPENoPHANGCHU oS/OoSUKURAoPHANGCHUo RESIDENToOFoVILLAGEoCHAMATAoPATHAR.oPOoANDoPSoSONAPUR oDISToKAMRUPoMoASSAMo782402 6:oMALOTIoDAS oW/OoNAGENDRAoDUTTAo RESIDENToOFoVILLAGEoCHAMATAoPATHAR.oPOoANDoPSoSONAPUR oDISToKAMRUPoMoASSAMo782402 7:oBARNALIoTERON oW/OoMALESWARoTERONo RESIDENToOFoVILLAGEoCHAMATAoPATHAR.oPOoANDoPSoSONAPUR PageoNo.#o2/4 oDISToKAMRUPoMoASSAMo782402 8:oJUGEoRAHANG oS/OoMOHANoRAHANG o RESIDENToOFoVILLAGEoCHAMATAoPATHAR.oPOoANDoPSoSONAPUR oDISToKAMRUPoMoASSAMo782402 9:oMOINULoHOQUEoCHOUDHURY oS/OoLATEoABDULoSAYADoCHOUDHURYo RESIDENToOFoVILLAGEoKASUTALI oPOoDIGARU oPSoSONAPURoDISToKAMRUPoMoASSAMo782401 10:oBATENoALI oS/OoLATEoAYUBoALIo RESIDENToOFoVILLAGEoSONAPURoGAON oPOoANDoPSoSONAPUR oDISToKAMRUPoMoASSAMo782402 11:oMD.oATABURoRAHMAN oS/OoLATEoSIRAJULoHOQUEo RESIDENToOFoVILLAGEoSONAPURoGAON oPOoANDoPSoSONAPUR oDISToKAMRUPoMoASSAMo78240o VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo7oORSo REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYo,o ENVIRONMENToANDoFORESToDEPARTMENT,oDISPUR,oGUWAHATIo06 2:THEoSTATEoENVIRONMENToIMPACToASSESSMENToAUTHORITYoASSAM oREPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoMEMBERoSECRETARY oMINISTRYoOFoENVIRONMENToFORESToANDoCLIMATEoCHANGE oGOVT.oOFoINDIAoBUMINIMAIDAMoGUWAHATIo21 3:THEoPOLLUTIONoCONTROLoBOARDoASSAM oREPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoMEMBERoSECRETARY/CHAIRMAN oPOLLUTIONoCONTROLoBOARD oASSAMoBAMUNIMAIDAMoGUWAHATIo21 4:THEoDISTRICToCOMMISSIONER oKAMRUPoMoGUWAHATIo36 5:THEoCIRCLEoOFFICER oSONAPURoREVENUEoCIRCLE Page No.# 3/4 DIST KAMRUP M ASSAM 782401 6:61 NO. SONAPUR GAON PANCHAYAT REPRESENTED BY THE PRESIDENT / SECRETARY DIST KAMRUP M ASSAM 782401 7:M/S DAIVIK CEMENT MANUFACTURING PRIVATE LIMITED REPPRESENTED BY ITS DIRECTOR REGISTERED OFFICE AT JAYA NAGAR BELTOLA. DIST KAMRUP M ASSAM 781028 8:M/S PERFECT ENVIRO SOLUTIONS PVT. LTD. SITUATED AT NN MALL. SECTOR 3 ROHINI NEW DELHI 8 Advocate for the Petitioner : G UDDIN Advocate for the Respondent : GA, ASSAM BEFORE HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SUMAN SHYAM