Supreme Court – Daily Orders
Bhopal Municipal Corporation vs Dr Subhash C. Pandey on 5 May, 2026
Author: Pankaj Mithal
Bench: Pankaj Mithal
C.A. NO. 6174/2023
ITEM NO.39 COURT NO.9 SECTION XVII
S U P R E M E C O U R T O F I N D I A
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
CIVIL APPEAL NO. 6174/2023
BHOPAL MUNICIPAL CORPORATION APPELLANT(S)
VERSUS
DR SUBHASH C. PANDEY & ORS. RESPONDENT(S)
[TO BE TAKEN UP AT 10.30 AM]
(IA No. 113056/2025 - APPROPRIATE ORDERS/DIRECTIONS
IA No. 141056/2024 - CONDONATION OF DELAY IN FILING
IA No. 43110/2024 - CONDONATION OF DELAY IN FILING
IA No. 198051/2023 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING C/C OF THE IMPUGNED
JUDGMENT
IA No. 141055/2024 – EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T.
IA No. 245823/2023 – PERMISSION TO APPEAR AND ARGUE IN PERSON
IA No. 198050/2023 – STAY APPLICATION)
WITH
C.A. No. 7728/2023 (XVII)
(IA No. 176665/2024 – EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T.
IA No. 196024/2024 – EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T.
IA No. 241136/2023 – STAY APPLICATION)
Date : 05-05-2026 These matters were called on for hearing today.
CORAM :
HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE PANKAJ MITHAL
HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE S.V.N. BHATTIFor Appellant(s) Ms. Vanshaja Shukla, AOR
Ms. Gunjan Chowksey, Adv.
Ms. Ankeeta Appanna, Adv.
Mr. Siddhant Yadav, Adv.
For Respondent(s) Mrs. Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.G.
Ms. Anupriya Srivastava, Adv.
Ms. Gargie Boss, Adv.
Mr. Gurmeet Singh Makker, AOR
Mrs. Chitragda Rastvara, Adv.
Mr. Balendu Shekhar, Adv.
Signature Not Verified Mr. Udit Dediya, Adv.
Digitally signed by
GEETA AHUJA
Mr. Harshvardhan Pandey, Adv.
Date: 2026.05.06
10:44:19 IST
Reason:
Mr. Raghavendra Pratap Singh, AOR
Mr. Ram Kumar, Adv.
1
C.A. NO. 6174/2023
Mr. Mahendra Pratap Singh, Adv.
Mr. Akshat Kashyap, Adv.
Mr. Arpit Gupta, AOR
Mr. Dilpreet Singh, Adv.
Mr. Divya Pratap Parmar, Adv.
Ms. Akansha Agarwal, Adv.
Mr. Aadil Yar Chaudhary, Adv.
Mr. Shariq Yar Chaudhary, Adv.
Mr. Pashupathi Nath Razdan, AOR
Mr. Abhimanyu Singh, Adv.
Mr. Abhinav Srivastav, Adv.
Ms. Maitreyee Jagat Joshi, Adv.
Mr. Astik Gupta, Adv.
Ms. Akanksha Tomar, Adv.
Mr. Shravan Bagora, Adv.
Mr. Raghav Sharma, Adv.
Mr. Salvador Santosh Rebello, AOR
Mr. Jaskirat Pal Singh, Adv.
Mr. Mridul Shukla, Adv.
Mr. Pranjal Pandey, Adv.
Ms. Moulishree Pathak, Adv.
Mr. Saurabh Balwani, AOR
Mr. Chirag Pathor, Adv.
Mr. Vikramaditya Singh, AOR
Mr. Qasim Ali, Adv.
Mr. Arjun Singh, Adv.
Ms. Yashika Gupta, Adv.
Mr. R Venkat Prabhat, Adv.
Ms. Pragati Neekhra, AOR
Mr. Aryan Vaibhav Srivastava, Adv.
Mr. Aaditya Aniruddha Pande, AOR
Mr. Siddharth Dharmadhikari, Adv.
Mr. Shrirang B. Varma, Adv.
Mr. Sourav Singh, Adv.
Ms. Chitransha Singh Sikarwar, Adv.
Mr. Sameer Abhyankar, AOR
Mr. Krishna Rastogi, Adv.
Mr. Aryan Srivastava, Adv.
Mr. Surjendu Sankar Das, AOR
Ms. Yoovika Toor, Adv.
UPON hearing the counsel the court made the following
2
C.A. NO. 6174/2023O R D E R
1. This Earth and this Nation are what we all have in common. We are
confident that a group of committed civil servants, officers, people’s
representatives, and foot soldiers vested with the power to administer
the SWM Rules, 2026, can spread the light of preserving this planet and
this Nation from man-made destruction. The statutory framework
introduced under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, will be the
change for the progress and well-being of the Indian citizens. It should
be the shared commitment to leave behind a tolerable planet for future
generations. Their thanks for preserving the planet will not be heard by
us, but our willingness to sacrifice, work tirelessly for them, and
dedicate ourselves will leave the mark of our conscience for times to
come.
2. Apropos the order dated 29.04.2026, the (i) Secretary, Ministry of
Environment, Forest and Climate Change (“MoEFCC”); (ii) Secretary,
Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ministry of Jal Shakti;
(iii) Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (“MoHUA”); (iv)
Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj; (v) Secretary, Ministry of Rural
Development; and the Chief Secretaries of the States and Union
Territories have participated in today’s hearing. A few Chief Secretaries
contributed to the hearing, and others have appreciated the need of the
hour to implement the SWM Rules, 2026, and the statutory obligations
on the Executive and local bodies. Most of the State lawyers also
attended the proceedings.
3. During the hearing, this Court has made it clear that the current
common effort by all stakeholders is to persuade Solid Waste generators
to participate and prevent environmental pollution contrary to the law’s
mandate. This Court, as intimated in its earlier orders, reposes trust in
the local, state and central administration, and if the desired result is
not achieved, decides to strengthen the administration within the
3
C.A. NO. 6174/2023
framework of the Environment Protection Act, 1986, before finally
declaring the inbuilt incompetency in the administrative set-up to
handle the solid waste generated by human activity.
4. Keeping the above in perspective, the MoEFCC is directed to issue a
notification under Section 23 and delegate the powers under Section 5 of
the Environment Protection Act, 1986, to the District Collectors across
the country for a period of one year, exclusively for supervising,
administering and implementing SWM Rules, 2026, within their
jurisdictional limits. The District Collectors are directed to constitute
and dedicate a ‘Special Cell’ not only to oversee the implementation, but
in given circumstances, to issue directions for the stoppage of
water/electricity to bulk generators of solid waste who disobey the
directions or disregard the Rules. The District Collectors are directed to
conduct virtual spot inspections of the dumping sites, implement the
rules, and fortnightly prepare and forward the report to the designated
Secretaries in the respective States. The directions, if any, issued by the
District Collectors under the delegated authority are understood as
directives issued in furtherance of the orders of this Court.
5. The Regional Officers of the respective Pollution Control Boards shall
also be included in the Special Cell directed to be set up under the
supervision of the District Collector. The Regional Officers of the
respective Pollution Control Boards are directed to conduct field
inspections of authorised and unauthorised dump yards/sites within
their jurisdictions and forward photographs to the District Collector and
Local Bodies for further action and compliance. The District Collector
issues directions to ensure that Solid Waste is transported, managed,
and disposed of by vehicles authorised by the Local Bodies. This enables
the Local Bodies not only to regulate but also to prevent unauthorised
dumping along roadsides, railway tracks, lakes, foothills, etc.
4
C.A. NO. 6174/2023
6. The District Collectors are directed to prepare a brief summary of the
performance/progress of the implementation of the SWM Rules once a
month and submit it to the respective secretaries. The respective
secretaries, in turn, with an abstract, certifying assessment of progress
and deficiency within their respective states, forward the report to the
concerned Ministries, viz, (i) Secretary, MoEFCC; (ii) Secretary,
Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ministry of Jal Shakti;
(iii) Secretary, MoHUA; (iv) Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj; and (v)
Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development for filing the abstract of the
report in this Court.
7. The first phase of monitoring by the Secretaries in the Union of India
and the Secretaries in the State/UTs of municipal corporations,
municipalities and gram panchayats is set out as follows:
(1) The District Collectors are directed to communicate the orders of
this Court dated 19.02.2026, 29.04.2026 and 05.05.2026 (the
present order) through the respective Commissioners/Executive
Officers/Panchayat Secretaries, who shall, in turn, communicate
the same to the elected ward members/corporators/councillors.
(2) The State Governments are directed to incentivise good
performance by prioritising grants to which well-performing local
authorities or local bodies are entitled. Conversely, defaulting local
bodies shall attract penal consequences for non-compliance with
the Rules.
(3) The Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, and the Urban
Development Secretary are directed to explore a roadmap to
incorporate knowledge of and obligations under the Solid Waste
Management Rules into the functioning of elected representatives
as part of the representative process in local bodies.
5
C.A. NO. 6174/2023
8. The Secretaries, viz, (i) Secretary, MoEFCC; (ii) Secretary, Department of
Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ministry of Jal Shakti; (iii) Secretary,
MoHUA; (iv) Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj; and (v) Secretary,
Ministry of Rural Development, are directed to deliberate upon and
explore the inclusion of contributions under Corporate Social
Responsibility (“CSR”) by industries for the establishment of
Compressed Biogas plants or such other latest technology as may be
available for converting waste into energy into the extant scheme and
the modalities for availing the funds. Such contributions shall, to the
requisite extent, compensate and follow principles similar to the Polluter
Pays Principle for the overall upkeep of local bodies. This is not to
strictly enforce the principle of the Polluter Pays, but for the
amelioration of the environment, CSR funds shall be utilised exclusively
for the improvement of local bodies within whose jurisdictions the
contributing industries are located. We direct that such contributions
be prioritised within the schemes operated by the Union of India.
9. The Chief Secretaries are directed to circulate the Form IV under the
SWM Rules, 2026, by 15th May, 2026; receive the filled data, collate it,
and forward it to the Respective Secretaries of the Union of India for
enhanced and efficient performance monitoring of the local bodies.
10. The Chief Secretaries are directed to identify tourist-centric beaches,
tourist places, and pilgrim centres, and to put in place a special
mechanism for implementing the SWM Rules, 2026, at such locations.
11. The Chief Secretaries are directed to conduct an inventory of the
implementation of the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016 (as
amended from time to time), in their respective jurisdictions and,
through the Secretary, MoEFCC, submit a report on strict compliance
with the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016. Including handholding
6
C.A. NO. 6174/2023
of Gram Panchayats for identification and registration of Bulk Waste
Generators’ activities related to EBWGR certification, Legacy waste,
dumpsite remediation, etc., as applicable in rural areas. Presently,
nearly 1,700 ULBs have registered on the CPCB’s EPR Portal. The State
must advise all ULBs, giving a timeline in a graded manner, to register
on the EPR Portal.
12. Annexures 8 and 9 in the latest status report filed by the Union of India
refer to the responses by States/Union Territories to the identified
bottlenecks and the compilation of action plans submitted by
States/Union Territories. The concerned Ministries in the Union take up
these issues and respond to the bottlenecks within three weeks from
today. The Secretary, MoEFCC, is treated as the nodal secretary for
filing reports for and on behalf of all the departments. The supervision,
administration and implementation of the SWM Rules, 2026, shall
remain with the respective departments, and the Secretaries are called
upon not to forward the reports sent by the States, but have them
scrutinised or examined in the respective departments and submit an
abstract to this Court.
13. In the course of deliberation, it has been pointed out that, for the
present, the administrative sanction for advancing Solid Waste
Management Projects is being delayed, and may not be adhered to. Our
attention is drawn to MoHUA guidelines for Swachh Bharat Mission-
Urban (SBM-U). There are three levels, and considering the methodology
adopted in SBM-U, we are of the view that Solid Waste Management
Projects are undertaken and approved in accordance with SBM-U.
Consequently, we direct that the 3 levels, from ULBs to State
Governments to the Central Government, be integrated in a paperless
manner through technology under the Swachh Bharat Mission – Urban.
There is no requirement of any other approval at the Council or any
other forum/authority. A similar paperless, technology-driven lean
7
C.A. NO. 6174/2023
approval method could be used by all State Governments for all Solid
Waste Management projects funded through sources other than SBM-U.
Once the projects are approved by the National Advisor and Review
Committee (“NARC”), the DPR preparations and technical sanctions
must be delegated to competent authorities in the State, so that no
more than three levels are involved in such sanctions for Solid Waste
Management projects. The respective State General Financial Rules
(GFRs) may be considered appropriately. Once the projects are approved
by the NARC, the State matching share must also be kept ready to avoid
any delay in providing it.
14. The financial difficulties faced by the Union, the Union Territories and
the States have been brought to our notice. We record the challenges
and the views expressed by the States regarding the financial challenges
to report compliance under the SWM Rules, 2026. With respect to
addressing Financial Availability for SWM Rules 2026 implementation:
14.1 SBM-U and SBM-Grameen funds are available to States for
implementing SWM projects in local bodies. Timely and complete
utilisation of these funds is a mandate of the State Governments.
14.2 Many States have made their own State budget provisions to
supplement the SWM & sanitation activities.
14.3 Many States have effectively been able to mandate funds from the
Finance Commission for sanitation spending.
14.4 Large ULBs have also been able to bring in CSR support from
corporates. The Bio-CBG is currently witnessing interest from many
PSUs. States can fully leverage the same.
14.5 Large PPP projects for SWM can also be prepared by State
8
C.A. NO. 6174/2023Governments on a regional/ cluster basis, and funds can be availed
too from the recently launched Urban Challenge Fund (UCF) by
MoHUA.
14.6 States should plan sanitation and SWM projects by converging
multiple funding sources. Especially in rural areas, States must make
adequate provisions from their own resources so that Gram
Panchayats can carry forward these activities.
15. On the above, we direct the Secretary, MoHUA, to convene a meeting
with all the Chief Secretaries and place before this Court, a resolution
on how to address the financial problem faced by the local bodies, and
the extent to which the Union of India can assist the States/UTs.
16. The inadequate human resources in Local Bodies have been brought to
this Court’s notice. We take note of the population growth in the
Country and the increased density of population at all three levels –
Villages, Municipal and Corporation.
17. Presently, there is no material to appreciate the enhancement of human
resources or wherewithal by the State Governments, commensurate
and proportionate to the increased population, and the consequent
increase in Solid Waste. Therefore, we direct the States/UTs to review
the sanctioned and available manpower in urban and rural local bodies
to fill the identified vacancies in a time-bound manner. States/UTs may
also consider creating a dedicated cadre within rural local bodies,
funded from their own resources, for SWM and sanitation service
delivery, thereby developing the technical capacities of rural local
bodies. Gram Panchayats are categorised by population size to assign
appropriate staff, ensuring at least a full-time Panchayat Secretary and
technical support in every Gram Panchayat. Over and above the State
matching share under SBM-U, the State should provide necessary9
C.A. NO. 6174/2023interventions for short-term and long-term capacity building of local
bodies.
18. The Secretary, MoEFCC, is directed to exclusively take up the legacy
waste issues with the Chief Secretaries, receive their response and file a
report on further direction noted on this behalf.
19. The progress of the first phase is monitored on 25.05.2026 and,
subsequently, on 15.07.2026. The establishment of mobile courts will
be examined after hearing the parties on 15.07.2026.
20. The Orders of this Court are translated into regional languages by the
respective States, and along with the soft copy of this Order, the
translated version is circulated to all concerned.
21. On appreciating the compliance reports filed by the States, we notice
that on the following points, the State Governments implement and file
a status report to the Secretary, MoHUA and the Secretary, MoEFCC for
further action at both ends:
a. Local Self Governments (“LSGs”) must bring in source segregation
with focus on BWGs. Door to door mapping of waste generators can
be done with the Safai Supervisors challaning the non-compliant
generators. The focus on BWGs needs to be complete and absolute.
b. LSGs must upgrade their collection and transportation to have
completely closed vehicles for secondary transportation.
c. LSGs must use technology to map Garbage Vulnerable Points (GVPs)
and ensure that there is no recurrence by using a mix of penalties
and improved collection systems.
10
C.A. NO. 6174/2023
d. All high footfall areas must be identified by that are garbage-prone
and a mix of initiatives like – Swachhata Marshals (community
patrollers), strict enforcement amongst vendors, twice-a-day
sweeping, and additional manpower as per seasonality requirements,
declarations of no-Single-Use Plastice zone and its enforcement, etc.e. Special Purpose Vehicle is set up only for Solid Waste Management
with specialisation in the processing of all streams of waste. While
primary collection and transportation of waste can be the ULBs’
mandate, efficient operation of processing plants can be the SPVs’
specialised domain. Even collection and transportation can be
handed over to the SPV, as per well-structured KPIs.
f. ULBs must designate at least 30 percent of their total funds for
effective city cleanliness and solid waste management.
g. City cleanliness being a priority, States/UTs must evolve Ward
cleanliness ranking which must be a criteria for providing incentives
to a Ward. The Ward member/councillor/corporator will lead these
activities with the help of a Ward Swachhata Committee with select
members of the Ward as voluntary members.
h. The city must designate waste handling areas in all new areas of
planned expansion.
i. There should be no dumping of waste or legacy dumpsites. Only
rejects should be allowed to sanitary scientific landfill. The
decentralised waste management sites must also be used to educate
children and other citizens.
11
C.A. NO. 6174/2023
j. All wards should have a neighbourhood RRR centre (Reduce -Reuse-
Recycle) Centre so that citizens can use this to donate their used
materials, electronic products, clothes, books, etc.k. Each big city must tie up with industry so that the Material Recovery
Facility is the pick-up point for industrial recycling, including
plastics, and the city can generate Extended Producer Responsibility
Certificates from the same.
22. The Urban, Rural, and MoEFCC ministries are directed to set out
‘short’, ‘medium’, and ‘long-term’ objectives to be accomplished by the
State/UTs and their Local Bodies. The concerned Ministries shall file
separate abstract statements in the following format by 24th of May,
2026 on the percentage of accomplishment by the State/UTs and their
Local Bodies:
Urban Local Bodies Phase I Targets
State Target Percent Achieved Remarks
Andaman
and Nicobar
Islands
Andhra
Pradesh
Arunachal
PradeshAssam
Bihar
Chandigarh
Chhattisgarh
Dadra and
Nagar Haveli12
C.A. NO. 6174/2023and Daman
and DiuDelhi (NCT)
Goa
Gujarat
Haryana
Himachal
Pradesh
Jammu and
KashmirJharkhand
Karnataka
Kerala
Ladakh
Lakshadweep
Madhya
PradeshMaharashtra
Manipur
Meghalaya
Mizoram
Nagaland
Odisha
Puducherry
13
C.A. NO. 6174/2023Punjab
Rajasthan
Sikkim
Tamil Nadu
Telangana
Tripura
Uttar
PradeshUttarakhand
West Bengal
Rural Local Bodies Phase I Targets
State Target Percent Achieved Remarks
Andaman and
Nicobar
Islands
Andhra
Pradesh
Arunachal
PradeshAssam
Bihar
Chandigarh
Chhattisgarh
Dadra and
Nagar Haveli
and Daman14
C.A. NO. 6174/2023and Diu
Delhi (NCT)
Goa
Gujarat
Haryana
Himachal
Pradesh
Jammu and
KashmirJharkhand
Karnataka
Kerala
Ladakh
Lakshadweep
Madhya
PradeshMaharashtra
Manipur
Meghalaya
Mizoram
Nagaland
Odisha
Puducherry
Punjab
15
C.A. NO. 6174/2023Rajasthan
Sikkim
Tamil Nadu
Telangana
Tripura
Uttar Pradesh
Uttarakhand
West Bengal
23. The Registry is directed to communicate a copy of the Order dated
19.02.2026 to the Registrar Generals/Registrars of High Courts for taking
appropriate action as an institution of the Judiciary in implementing the
SWM Rules, 2026.
24. List on 25.05.2026 at 10.30 AM.
(Nidhi Mathur) (Geeta Ahuja)
Court Master (NSH) Deputy Registrar
16
[ad_1]
Source link
