The Hindu : National : Give Lavasa a hearing, court tells Environment Ministry

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Give Lavasa a hearing, court tells Environment Ministry

Staff Reporter

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday stayed the status quo notice issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forests to the Lavasa Corporation, asking it to stop construction on its 5,000-hectare township site.

A Division Bench of Justices N.D. Deshpande and D.K. Deshmukh observed that the November 25 notice had been issued without hearing Lavasa.

The Bench, which took over the case after the Chief Justice recused himself from hearing it, directed the Ministry to give Lavasa a hearing and decide by December 16 whether the construction work should be stayed or not. It adjourned the hearing on Lavasa's petition till December 16.

The court directed Lavasa to approach the Ministry for a hearing by or on December 9.

In the court, Lavasa voluntarily made a statement that it would not carry out any further construction until the Ministry passed an order on December 16.

The Ministry had issued the show-cause to Lavasa, asking why environmental clearances had not been taken before starting construction, and directed it to stop work until it responded to the notice.

The Bench observed that the Ministry should have given Lavasa notice before directing it to stop work. Also why did the Ministry issue notice six years after construction activity had begun in the hill station at Mulshi, Pune, the court asked.

When Additional Solicitor-General Darius Khambata said that in environmental matters the Ministry could pass such an order without hearing, the court said that in India even a criminal had the right to a hearing.

Mr. Khambata argued that the Ministry was ready to give Lavasa a hearing anytime and pass final orders by December 31. He said the State government had told the corporation in 2008 that it would require necessary environmental clearances. “The construction is blatantly illegal.”

The court directed the Ministry to give the National Alliance of People's Movement a hearing after its lawyer argued that the Ministry acted on the issue only after the NAPM complaint.

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