On Wednesday, the Supreme Court criticized Delhi and the neighboring states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Punjab for rendering their pollution control boards ineffective, noting that some of these bodies are operating with less than half of their sanctioned strength. The court directed the chief secretaries to submit a time-bound plan within three weeks to fill all vacant posts.
Back on April 22, the court had already requested a status report on the pending vacancies in these pollution control boards (PCBs) from these states. According to a bench headed by Justice AS Oka, Delhi is in the worst situation, with 233 out of 344 sanctioned posts in the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) vacant. Justice Oka, along with Justice Augustine George Masih, remarked on the dire state of affairs, noting that the pollution control body in the capital is hardly functional.
The court also reviewed figures from other states: Haryana has 202 vacancies out of 483 sanctioned posts, Rajasthan has 476 out of 808 posts vacant, Punjab has 315 vacancies out of nearly 650 posts, and Uttar Pradesh needs to fill 145 out of 732 posts in its PCB. The bench directed the chief secretaries to file an affidavit with a time-bound schedule for filling all vacant posts, and the matter is scheduled for further consideration on August 20.
The court emphasized the urgent need for fully functional PCBs, citing their critical statutory roles under environmental protection laws. It also noted a concerning practice in Delhi where workers were hired on a contractual basis instead of through regular appointments, calling this a “short-cut” method that should be condemned.
Separately, the Delhi government’s forest and environment department is under scrutiny for permitting the felling of 422 trees in the south Delhi ridge area, bypassing the Tree Authority. The court demanded an explanation for this decision, criticizing the department’s lack of environmental sensitivity.
Senior advocate Aparajita Singh, acting as amicus curiae, highlighted that except for UP and Haryana, vacancy figures in the other states have remained unchanged over the past seven months. She pointed out that no significant steps have been taken to fill these vacancies since the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) submitted state-wise vacancy figures to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in November last year.
In response, Punjab’s advocate general Gurminder Singh informed the court that selections for nearly 100 posts are in progress. However, the court found Rajasthan’s efforts inadequate, as the state had initiated the selection process for only 56 posts despite having a significantly large number of vacancies. The court issued a common directive to all chief secretaries to file a personal affidavit within three weeks, outlining the timeline for filling all vacancies.
Uttar Pradesh, which had not filed an affidavit before the court, reported a reduction in vacancies from 325 to 145 since the CPCB’s November 2023 report. According to the CPCB, more than 6,000 out of 11,969 sanctioned posts across the country’s PCBs remain vacant.
A DPCC official disputed the figure of 233 vacant posts, stating that there are currently 207 vacancies based on the posts created under the DPCC. The official added that 127 contractual staff members have been hired, effectively leaving only 80 posts vacant.
