The Supreme Court has upheld the Kerala High Court’s decision averring that once permission from the State Board of Pollution is granted, permission from the Local Panchayat is not mandatory.
Brief Facts of the Case:
George Elias and Associates filed two writ petitions in the High Court of Kerala challenging the refusal to grant of license by Gram Panchayat for the establishment of a Hot Mix Plant and for a declaration that by virtue of the certificate granted under the Kerala Micro Small and Medium Enterprises Facilitation Act, 2019, all licenses and approvals including the license of the Panchayat should be deemed to have been obtained.
The High Court of Kerala disposed of both the writ petitions permitting the writ petitioners to prefer an application for permission under Rule 68 of the Kerala Panchayat Building Rules, 2019 within two weeks and further directing the Secretary of the Panchayat to grant necessary permission subject to the conditions, if any, that may be imposed by the Panchayat. It was held that if the consent from State Pollution Control Board had been taken, the Secretary of the Panchayat cannot refuse permission under the aforementioned Rules. This order of the High Court was challenged via three writ Petitions in the Supreme Court. One Writ petition (fourth petition) was also filed by George Elias and Associates for not getting full relief from the HC.
Contention of the Appellant:
The petitioners argued that they had already taken the required permission under the Kerala Micro Small and Medium Enterprises Facilitation Act and no further permission was necessary from the Panchayat.
Contention of the Respondent:
The Counsel for objectors contended that the petitioner did not take permission as mentioned under the Act of 1994 and thus, couldn’t set up the Plant. Furthermore, permission from the local Panchayat by virtue of same rules was also considered unavoidable. It was argued that the Court could read down the conflicting Section 10 (of Kerala MSME Act) in public interest.
Observation by the Court:
The Supreme Court established that once consent for the establishment of the plant had been taken from the Pollution Control Board, the necessity for reading down Section 10 of the Kerala MSME, for the purpose of protecting the environment, does not arise. Neither does the need to take permission from the Local Panchayat arise since the Rules framed under the Act cannot annul the effect of the statutory provisions.
Decision of the Court:
The Supreme Court declared that the petitioners were entitled to the reliefs sought in both the writ petitions and thus, the writ petition was allowed.
Case Title: Jolly George & Anr. vs George Elias and Associates & Ors., 2023 Latest Caselaw 317 SC
Coram: Hon’ble Mr. Justice V. Ramasubramanian, Hon’ble Mr. Justice Pankaj Mithal
Citation: 2023 Latest Caselaw 317 SC
Case No. : Special Leave Petition (C) Nos. 1333-1335 of 2022
Advocates for Petitioner: M/S. Kmnp Law Aor, AOR; Mr. K.parameshwar
Advocates for Respondent: M/S. Kmnp Law Aor, AOR; Mr. C. K. Sasi, AOR; Mr. Jogy Scaria, AOR; Mr. K.parameshwar, AOR.
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