Bengaluru: In a dramatic turn in the ongoing saga over a closure order issued to a sugar and distillery factory belonging to MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board has approached the Supreme Court, contending that the Karnataka High Court stating that the Karnataka High Court was misled to issue an order in favour of the factory, reported Deccan Herald.
As per media report, the factory in question, located in Chincholi and operated by Siddhasiri Souharda Sahakari Niyamit (SSSN), a cooperative bank headed by Yatnal, was served a closure notice by the KSPCB. The board had found that the factory began crushing sugarcane without obtaining the necessary Consent for Operation (CFO).
The SSSN challenged the notice before the High Court stating that the company was not granted CFO though it received environment clearance (EC) from the expert appraisal committee of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) environment ministry in November 2023. The High Court, citing the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification of 2006, ruled in favour of the factory, noting that since the KSPCB did not object to the EC within 45 days, the factory was deemed to have received the necessary clearance.
However, in its submission before the Supreme Court, the KSPCB noted that the expert committee granted EC to SSSN based on a office memorandum of the MoEF&CC that allowed industries without prior EC to get post-facto EC. Since that memorandum had been stayed by the Supreme Court itself, the latter said, the EC given to SSSN was invalid.
The issue became politically charged last week when Yatnal protested at the KSPCB office, accusing Forest, Ecology, and Environment Minister Eshwar B Khandre of engaging in vendetta politics. Responding to the allegations, Khandre stated that the legal matter was unnecessarily politicized by Yatnal.
