Srinagar, Sept. 23, KDC: Taking stern exception to administrative defiance, the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has issued bailable warrants against the Deputy Commissioner, Pulwama, and two other senior officials for failing to file response affidavits and skipping personal appearance in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging the establishment of a waste dumping site and a faecal sludge treatment facility at Newa village in Pulwama district.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Dr. Pushpendra Singh Bhati and Justice Rajnesh Oswal termed the continued default by the authorities as “complete disobedience” of judicial directions, ordering the concerned Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) to execute bailable warrants of Rs 10,000 against each officer to secure their presence on the next date of hearing.
The PIL, instituted by environmental activist Dr. Sheikh Ghulam Rasool through Advocate Naveed Bukhtiyar, seeks directions to halt the construction, installation, and operation of a proposed Faecal Sludge Treatment Plant (FSTP) alongside an open waste dumping site in Newa village, contending that the establishment violates statutory environmental clearances, master plan guidelines, and municipal solid waste handling rules.
The petition also prays for immediate directions to shift accumulated municipal waste from Newa to an authorized, scientific recycling facility, besides seeking environmental compensation for local residents affected by hazardous waste accumulation and civic pollution.
Earlier on August 4, 2026, the Division Bench had granted a “last and final opportunity” of four weeks to the Deputy Commissioner, Pulwama, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Municipal Council, Pulwama, and the Member Secretary of the J&K Pollution Control Committee, Rajbagh, Srinagar, to submit separate response affidavits, directing them to remain present in person if they failed to comply.
When the matter came up for hearing on September 16, government counsel Zahid Qais Noor could neither present the required affidavits nor secure the personal attendance of the officers.
Taking a serious view of the administrative inaction, the Division Bench said,”The last order passed by this Court was on 04.08.2026. There is complete non-compliance with the said order, as neither the separate affidavits have been filed nor are the officials present in person. When asked, the counsel for the respondents could not offer any satisfactory explanation for the failure to file the affidavits or for the failure of the officers to remain present in compliance with the order dated 04.08.2026. The same amounts to complete disobedience of the order dated 04.08.2026, as neither the separate affidavits have been filed nor are the officers present.”
Directing coercive measures to compel the appearance of the defaulting officers, the bench ordered,”Issue bailable warrants in the amount of Rs. 10,000/- each against all the officers mentioned in the order dated 04.08.2026, to ensure their presence on the next date. The warrants be executed through SSP concerned.”
The High Court has listed the PIL for further proceedings on October 5, 2026, when the three senior officials are required to remain present before the court. (KDC)
