M/S Kamakhya Soap Industry and Anr v. The State of Assam and 12 Ors

ORDER Date : 05.02.2024

¶1The instant writ petition has been filed by the Petitioners challenging the order dated 11.09.2020 whereby the District Magistrate, Jorhat closed down the Petitioners' industry.

¶2This Court had duly perused the order dated 11.09.2020 which reveals that on the basis of the report received from the Senior Environmental Engineer, Pollution Control Board and others, it was observed by the District Magistrate, Jorhat that the Petitioners were not operating as per the industrial terms and norms which has caused threat and pollution to the local people in and around the soap factory.

¶3When the matter was taken up by this Court on 29.11.2023, the counsel for the Pollution Control Board submitted that the Petitioners were running the factory without the consent from the Pollution Control Board. On the other hand, the learned Senior counsel appearing on behalf of the Petitioners duly submitted that the Petitioners duly applied for the consent, however the same was not considered by the Pollution Control Board. It is under such circumstances, this Court passed an order on 29.11.2023 directing the counsel Page No.# 4/4 for the Pollution Control Board to apprise this Court as to what steps have been taken pursuant to the application filed by the Petitioners.

¶4Mr. S. Baruah, the learned Standing counsel for the Pollution Control Board has placed before this Court a print out of the application portal seeking consent. From a perusal of the said print out, it reveals that on 07.04.2022, the Petitioners had informed that there was a delay on the part of the Petitioners to reply to a query and the time period for obtaining consent for the year 2021-22 was almost over. It was also mentioned by the Petitioners that they shall apply fresh Consent to Operate application for the year 2022-2023 for which the Petitioners requested to reject their earlier application. On the basis of the said request, the application was closed on refusal. The said print out is kept on record and marked with the letter "X".

¶5Therefore, from the above, it is apparent that the Petitioners as of now do not have any Consent to Operate from the Pollution Control Board which is mandatory. Under such circumstances, the question of interfering with the impugned order does not arise. Be that as it may, this Court however grants the liberty to the Petitioners to apply for the Consent to Operate before the Pollution Control Board as per the prescription of law and in the event such consent is duly granted, the Petitioners would further be at liberty to approach the District Magistrate, Jorhat so that the Petitioners can be permitted to run their factory.

¶6With above observations and directions, the instant writ petition stands disposed of.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010169772020 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/5273/2020o M/SoKAMAKHYAoSOAPoINDUSTRYoANDoANR.o HAVINGoITSoPLACEoOFoBUSINESSoAToKALISTHAN,oRAJAMAIDAMoROAD,o WARDoNO.o5,oP.O.oANDoP.S.oJORHAT,oDIST.-oJORHAT,oASSAM,o(REP.oBYoITSo PROPRIETORoSRIoPRABIRoDUTTA) 2:oPRABIRoDUTTA oS/O-oLT.oBAIDYAoNATHoDUTTA oH.N.o244 oKALISTHAN oRAJAMAIDAMoROAD oWARDoNO.o5 oP.O.oANDoP.S.oJORHAT oDIST.-oJORHAT oASSAo VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo12oORS.o REP.oBYoTHEoCOMM.oANDoSECY.,oDEPTT.oOFoENVIRONMENToANDoFOREST,o GOVT.oOFoASSAM,oASSAMoSECRETARIAT,oGHY-6,oASSAM 2:THEoDY.oCOMMISSIONER oJORHAToDISTRICT oPINoNO.-o785001 3:THEoDISTRICToMAGISTRATE oOFFICEoOFoTHEoDY.oCOMMISSIONERoJORHAToDISTRICT oPIN-o785001 4:THEoCIRCLEoOFFICERoCUMoEXECUTIVEoMAGISTRATE oEASToREVENUEoCIRCLE oJORHAToDISTRICT oASSAM oPIN-o785001 PageoNo.#o2/4 5:THEoCHAIRoPERSON oJORHAToMUNICIPALoBOARD oJORHAT oASSAM oPIN-o785001 6:THEoPRESIDENT oJORHAToMUNICIPALoBOARD oJORHAT oASSAM oPIN-o785001 7:THEoEXECUTIVEoOFFICER oJORHAToMUNICIPALoBOARD oJORHAT oASSAM oPIN-o785001 8:THEoCHAIRMAN oPOLLUTIONoCONTROLoBOARD oASSAM oBAMUNIMAIDAM oGHY-21 9:THEoMEMBERoSECRETARY oPOLLUTIONoCONTROLoBOARD oASSAM oBAMUNIMAIDAM oGHY-21 10:THEoSENIORoENVIRONMENTALoENGINEER oREGIONALoLABORATORYoCUMoOFFICE oPOLLUTIONoCONTROLoBOARD oSIVSAGAR oASSAM 11:REGIONALoEXECUTIVEoENGINEER oREGIONALoLABORATORYoCUMoOFFICE oPOLLUTIONoCONTROLoBOARD oSIVSAGAR oASSAM 12:ASSTT.oENGINEER oREGIONALoLABORATORYoCUMoOFFICE oPOLLUTIONoCONTROLoBOARD oSIVSAGAR oASSAM Page No.# 3/4 13:GENERAL MANAGER DISTRICT INDUSTRIES AND COMMERCE CENTRE (DICC) DIST.- JORHAT JORHAT-8 ASSA For the Petitioner(s) : Mr. J. Roy, Sr. Advocate For the Respondent(s) : Mr. S. Baruah, Standing Counsel BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE DEVASHIS BARUAH