Md Shahjahan Ansari v. The State of Assam and 10 Ors

ORDER Date : 20-12-2023 Heard Mr. A. Ganguly, learned counsel for the petitioner; Mr. I. Borthakur, learned counsel representing Mr. D. Gogoi, learned Standing Counsel, Environment and Forest Department for the respondent no. 1; Mr. N. Goswami, learned Junior Government Advocate, Assam for the respondent nos. 2, 3, 7 & 8; and Mr. S. Baruah, learned Standing Counsel, Pollution Control Board, Assam [PCBA] for the respondent nos. 4 & 5.

¶2In this writ petition, the petitioner has projected that the respondent authorities in the Pollution Control Board, Assam [PCBA] had allowed the respondent no. 11 to operate a Waste Cloth Processing Industry in the name and style of M/s Mansuri Cotton Industry from a plot of land, adjacent to the plot of land belonging to the family of the petitioner, situate at Village – No. 2 Medhichuburi, P.O. – Rangagora, P.S. – Dhekiajuli, District – Sonitpur, Assam.

¶3It has been brought to the notice that the respondent no. 11 had earlier approached this Court by way of a writ petition, W.P.[C] no. 5824/2023 projecting that on 01.08.2023, he had been asked to stop operating the said Waste Cloth Processing Industry on the premise as he was found running the industrial unit without any prior consent from the respondent Pollution Control Board, Assam [PCBA]. The said writ petition was disposed of on 04.10.2023 directing the respondent PCBA authorities to consider the application, if any, Page No.# 4/5 submitted by the respondent no. 11 for grant of 'Consent to Establish'/'Consent to Operate' or otherwise in respect of the Waste Cloth Processing Industry in accordance with the provisions of the Air [Prevention and Control of Pollution] Act, 1981, more particularly, Section 21 thereof, on its own merits within the prescribed time period.

¶4On 18.12.2023, Mr. Baruah, learned Standing Counsel, PCBA was requested to obtain instructions as to whether the respondent no. 11 has been granted any 'Consent to Establish'/'Consent to Operate' in connection with the Waste Cloth Processing Industry, stated to have been installed adjacent to the plot of land belonging to the family of the petitioner. In deference to the order dated 18.12.2023, Mr. Baruah has placed a set of instruction contained in a Communication bearing no. PC/ROT/COMP-4/2404/15-16/165 dated

19.12.2023.

¶5From the contents of the said Communication, it is revealed that a public complaint was received from the petitioner and others on 21.07.2023 and a field inspection was carried out thereafter, by a team of officials of the PCBA on

28.07.2023. After the field inspection, a Report was submitted by the Inspecting Officials of the PCBA recording that there was every possibility of hazard fire from the industrial unit. It has been further reported that the industrial unit was operating since August, 2016 without any prior permission from the PCBA authorities. On receipt of the Report, the Head Office of the PCBA issued a letter to the industrial unit, operated by the respondent no. 11, to stop operation from

01.08.2023 until further orders. On 02.08.2023, the respondent no. 11 had submitted an application for 'Consent to Establish' and the said application was considered and thereafter, rejected on the basis of the Report submitted by the Page No.# 5/5 Inspecting Officials of the PCBA, who inspected the site on 28.07.2023. When on 25.08.2023 a fresh complaint was received against the same Waste Cloth Processing Industry, a letter was issued on 30.10.2023 to the respondent no. 11 to close down the operation of the industrial unit and a copy of the said letter has also been sent to the Assam Power Distribution Company Limited [APDCL] to disconnect the power supply of the said industrial unit.

¶6In view of such facts placed by the respondent PCBA authorities, Mr. Ganguly has submitted that the writ petition can be closed at this stage, reserving the liberty to the petitioner to approach again in the event of any subsequent cause of action.

¶7As the Waste Cloth Processing Industry, operated by the respondent no. 11, has already been ordered for closure by the respondent PCBA authorities, this writ petition is closed as there is no surviving cause of action. Liberty stands reserved to the petitioner to avail appropriate remedy in the event of any subsequent cause of action.

¶8The Communication bearing no. PC/ROT/COMP-4/2404/15-16/165 dated

19.12.2023, placed by Mr. Baruah, is kept as part of the case records.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/5 GAHC010270332023 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/6988/2023o MDoSHAHJAHANoANSARIo S/OoLATEoYAKUBoANSARI,oR/OoVILL-2oNO.oMEDHICHUBURI,oP.O.- RANGAGORA,oP.S.-DHEKIAJULI,oDIST-oSONITPUR,oASSAMo784110 VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo10oORSo REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoSECRETARY,oGOVT.oOFoASSAM,oDEPTT.oOFo ENVIRONMENToANDoFOREST,oDISPUR,oGUWAHATI-781006 2:THEoDISTRICToCOMMISSIONER oSONITPUR oTEZPUR-784001 3:THEoCIRCLEoOFFICER oDHEKIAJULIoCIRCLEoOFFICE oSONITPUR oASSAM 4:THEoREGIONALoEXECUTIVEoENGINEER oPOLLUTIONoCONTROLoBOARD oTEZPUR oNABAPURoBYEoLANEo2 oMAZGAON oP.O.-TEZPUR oDIST-oSONITPUR oASSAM-784001 5:THEoMEMBERoSECRETARY oPOLLUTIONoCONTROLoBOARD oASSAM oBAMUNIMAIDAM Page No.# 2/5 GUWAHATI-781021 6:SIRAJULI GAON PANCHAYAT REPRESENTED BY THE PRESIDENT/SECRETARY VILL-MEDHI CHUBURI P.O.-RANGAGORA DIST-SONITPUR (ASSAM) PIN-784110 7:DHEKIAJULI FIRE BRIGADE OFFICE CHITALMARI DHEKIAJULI SONITPUR ASSAM-784110 8:THE DIRECTOR FIRE AND EMERGENCY SERVICES ASSAM NEAR LAKHTOKIA OVER BRIDGE PANABAZAR GUWAHATI-781001 KAMRUP (METRO) 9:THE PRINCIPAL COMMISSIONER OF STATE GOODS AND SERVICE TAX KAR BHAVAN DISPUR GUWAHATI-05 10:THE COMMISSIONER OF TAXES GOVERNMENT OF ASSAM KAR BHAWAN GANESHGURI GUWAHATI ASSAM INDIA PIN-781006 11:M/S MANSURI COTTON INDUSTRY THROUGH ITS PROPRIETOR MD. IKRAM ALAM MANSURI S/O LATE NIJAMUDIN MANSURI R/O VILL- 2 NO. MEDHICHUBURI P.O.-RANGAGORA P.S.-DHEKIAJULI DIST-SONITPUR ASSAM-78411 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. S K SINGH Page No.# 3/5 Advocate for the Respondent : SC, FOREST BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE MANISH CHOUDHURY