Supreme Court Asks About Delhi Construction Ban. Lawyer's Reply Stuns Judge

The Supreme Court bench hearing petitions linked to Delhi's toxic air quality was in for a shock when a senior lawyer pointed out that construction was underway on the court premises despite a ban on construction activities.

The bench of Justice AS Oka and Justice AG Masih was grilling the Commission for Air Quality Management and Delhi government over the delay in implementing curbs under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) to check the deterioration of the capital's Air Quality Index.

At one point, the bench started taking stock of the implementation of curbs under GRAP 4, imposed when the AQI crossed the 450 mark.

"...ban on construction and demolition activities... who is monitoring this? Is somebody going to the site and checking?" Justice Oka asked.

Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for one of the petitioners, promptly replied, "Construction is going on outside court 11 inside Supreme Court right now. Stones are being broken, construction is on and dust is up in the air."

Justice Oka, shocked by the senior lawyer's revelation, responded, "What? Flash a message requesting secretary general to come to court. Just call him."

Delhi woke up gasping for breath this morning, with the Air Quality Index hovering around the 500 mark -- about 10 times the healthy AQI range of 0-50.

The court today pulled up authorities over the delay in implementing tough restrictions under GRAP to tackle the capital's bad air days. It flagged the "wrong approach" in implementing restrictions. "The commission cannot wait for improvement in AQI. It should take steps in anticipation," the bench said. It asked all states in the National Capital Region to enforce GRAP 4 restrictions and to set up committees to monitor their implementation and ensure strict compliance.

The court also said that GRAP 4 curbs will continue to be in force even if the AQI drops below the 450 mark. "We make it clear that till further orders of this court, implementation of stage 4 shall continue even if AQI falls below 450. All state and central governments to file compliance affidavit by Thursday," the court said.