High Court stays proceedings before NGT on Bellandur lake

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court on Thursday stayed all further proceedings before the National Green Tribunal’s Principal Bench in New Delhi on pollution of Bellandur lake.

A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Subhro Kamal Mukherjee and Justice P.S. Dinesh Kumar passed the interim order on a petition filed by M/s Shashi Distilleries Pvt Ltd, which has been operating a unit in Hulimavu village for 24 years.

The bench granted a stay primarily on the contention of the petitioner that the Principal Bench of the NGT at New Delhi has ‘no jurisdiction’ to decide matters pertaining to Karnataka.

As the Principal Bench has no jurisdiction to hear issues related to Karnataka, its order on Bellandur lake is without jurisdiction, and hence cannot be given effect in law, the petitioner has claimed.

During a joint inspection on May 16 by officials of the KSPCB and the Central Pollution Control Board indicated that the brewery is not letting any effluent into the water body, the KSPCB did not act on a plea submitted by the petitioner on May 20 for revocation of the closure order, the petition stated. The court has also stayed the May 12 order of the KSPCB for closing the brewery.