JOIN USA Bench of Justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly sought a response from the Centre within four weeks on the PIL challenging the Plastics Waste (Management & Handling) Rules, 2011 and seeking direction for a complete ban on the use of plastic.
The petition filed by the NGO, Delhi Study Group, alleged that the Rules were ‘arbitrary, discriminatory and violative’ of the fundamental rights of the citizens.
Appearing for the NGO, advocate Pinky Anand said the Rules had been issued only against tobacco products, while plastic material used for packaging in other items had been deliberately left out.
The Rules indirectly allowed non-compostable plastics and non-recyclable plastics for storage, selling, packaging of food stuffs, which was in absolute conflict with the environment laws of the country, she submitted. The petition sought a fresh enactment of the rules with the ‘polluter pays’ principle incorporated into it.