The bench, also comprising Justices D Y Chandrachud and Surya Kant, said that construction, industry, transport, power and vehicular traffic are the major culprits in causing pollution and asked the Centre to take steps regarding these factors
SC said stubble burning's contribution to pollution is "totally insignificant"
It pulled up Delhi government for making "lame excuses"
New Delhi: The Supreme Court Monday directed the Centre to hold an emergency meeting on the pollution crisis and by Tuesday decide on steps like stopping non-essential construction, transport, power plants and implementing work from home to tackle the situation, saying “the cat is out of the bag” now as the “hue and cry” over stubble burning being a big contributor was without any basis.
Ordering the Centre to hold the meeting with the secretaries concerned of Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, the bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana said, “In fact, now the cat is out of the bag, the farmers stubble burning contributes to 4 percent of the pollution... So, we are targeting something which is totally insignificant".
It pulled up the city government for making 'lame excuses' and passing the buck to civic bodies for not taking emergent measures in handling the crisis.