In a recent judgement, the Supreme Court has upheld the authority of Pollution Control Boards under the Water and Air Acts to impose restitutionary and compensatory damages for actual or potential environmental harm. The court emphasized that prevention and remediation must guide environmental governance.
A bench of Justices PS Narasimha and Justices Manoj Misra ruled that these boards can demand damages in the form of monetary compensation or bank guarantees as ex-ante preventive measures, distinguishing such actions from criminal penalties, which require separate statutory procedures.
The verdict overturned a 2012 Delhi High Court ruling that had limited the boards’ powers and reinforced the ‘Polluter Pays’ and precautionary principles as central to Indian environmental law.
The court directed that while exercising these powers, boards must follow procedures ensuring natural justice, transparency, and certainty, and called for the notification of appropriate rules and regulations to govern this process.
