Only Central Govt. Or Person Authorised By It Can File Complaint U/S. 19 Environment Protection Act: Delhi HC

The Delhi High Court held that only the Central Government or any authority or person authorised by the Central Government in this behalf could file a complaint under Section 19 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

In that context, the Bench of Justice Amit Sharma observed that, "In the facts and circumstances of the present case, the intention of the legislature is clear to the extent that only the Central Government or any authority or person authorised by the Central Government in this behalf could file a complaint under Section 19 of the Act and Central Government vide the aforesaid notification has authorised the Chairman and the Member Secretary of the State Pollution Control Committee to file complaint under Section 19 of the Act. It is a different thing to say that once a complaint has been filed by the competent authority, i.e., Chairman or the Member Secretary then the same can be pursued by an officer authorized with the permission of the concerned Court. In the considered opinion of this Court the cognizance of offences under the present Act could only be taken in the manner provided under Section 19 of the Act."

Senior Counsel Dayan Krishnan, along with others, appeared for the petitioner, while APP Aman Usman, along with others, appeared for the respondents.

M/s Aditya Birla Retail Ltd. faced a complaint from the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) regarding the use and storage of plastic bags at one of its stores in Rohini, New Delhi. The complaint named the CEO of the company, along with other individuals associated with the store.

The Metropolitan Magistrate took cognizance of the complaint and issued summons to the accused. The CEO challenged this order through a revision petition, arguing that the complaint was invalid as it was not filed by a person authorized by the Central Government under Section 19 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

The High Court observed that, "the complaint filed by respondent no. 2 with respect to the petitioner was not filed by the competent authority under Section 19 of the Act", and therefore, the impugned order was set aside.

Appearances:

Petitioner: Senior Counsel Dayan Krishnan, Counsels Vikas Kakkar, Shivam Sachdeva, Dilip Kumar Rana, Amit Dubey, Sarthak Dubey

Respondent: APP Aman Usman, Counsels Balendu Shekhar, Raj Kumar Maurya, Tanisha Samanta, Krishna Chaitanya

Cause Title: Thomas Varghese vs State & Anr.

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