IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD



     MISC.CIVIL APPLICATION No 6 of 2003


             in


     MISC.CIVIL APPLICATIONNo 326        of 1997



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     GOOLY CHEM
Versus
     STATE OF GUJARAT
     --------------------------------------------------------------
     Appearance:
     1. Misc.Civil Application No. 6 of 2003
          AN GULIWALA for Petitioner No. 1
          GOVERNMENT PLEADER for Respondent No. 1
          NOTICE SERVED for Respondent No. 2
          MR YF MEHTA for Respondent No. 3
          MR PRASHANT G DESAI for Respondent No. 4
          SERVED BY RPAD - (N) for Respondent No. 5
          MR HARESH J TRIVEDI for Respondent No. 6
          MR KV SHELAT for Respondent No. 6
          MR NR SHAHANI for Respondent No. 7


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                  CORAM : MR.JUSTICE N.G.NANDI
                                     and
                          MR.JUSTICE M.S.SHAH


                  Date of Order: 02/05/2003


ORAL ORDER

(Per : MR.JUSTICE M.S.SHAH) The present application is filed by an industrial unit which is manufacturing CPC Blue (Alpha), which is a chemical product with great potential for pollution. In the case of Pravinbhai J Patel vs. State of Gujarat & Ors., 1995 (2) GLR 1210 this Court had enumerated the products causing serious pollution and categorised them as specified items. CPC (Blue) was one of them.

2.The units manufacturing specified items were placed in Schedule I under the Environmental Audit Scheme which was framed by this Court vide the order dated 13.3.1997 in MCA No.326 of 1997. The Scheme was framed for ensuring that the industrial units manufacturing products with potential for causing pollution install proper equipments and operate the Environmental Management Systems for preventing and for containing pollution within the permissible norms prescribed by the relevant statutes, such as Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 and also the norms stipulated under the Environment Protection Act, 1986. This Court required the industrial units with pollution potential to be subjected to internal audit as well as external audit in the matter of meeting relevant norms prescribed under the aforesaid legislations. As far as external audit is concerned, this Court had directed that the units manufacturing specified items (such as CPC Blue) be subjected to external audit of NEERI i.e. National Environmental Engineering Research Institute at Nagpur to study the report of the internal auditor, and (if necessary) to make inspection and take samples and thereafter to submit a report recommending improvements/upgradations to the Environmental Management System installed at a particular unit manufacturing a specified item. For this purpose, each unit manufacturing any specified item was initially required to deposit external auditor's fees of Rs.1,00,000/- with the Registry of this Court with a further clause that the unit may be required to pay further fees to the external auditor as provided in clause 6(c) of the Scheme.

3.The present application is filed by the applicant-Unit contending that although it is manufacturing CPC Blue, which is admittedly Schedule I item, it is entitled to get a refund of Rs.1 lac deposited by it with the Registry in August, 1997 because NEERI team has not come to the industrial unit for taking samples or for personal inspection.

4.In response to the notice issued by this Court, Mr NR Shahani, learned counsel has appeared for NEERI and has produced the letter dated 17.3.2003 from NEERI addressed to the Deputy Registrar of this Court pointing out that M/s. Gooly Chem (the present applicant) was one of the industrial units manufacturing specified items, which was subjected to the external audit by NEERI and that the NEERI has already submitted a detailed report being Evaluation Report No.30 to GPCB in February, 2002. The said Evaluation of Audit Reports of various Industries in the State of Gujarat includes evaluation of the audit report of M/s. Gooly Chem, Behrampura, Ahmedabad, which is the present applicant and the NEERI report in respect of the said unit has made detailed reference to the following aspects of environmental audit:-

ParaParticulars 10.2Material Audit 10.3Energy Audit 10.4Water & Wastewater Audit 10.5Environmental Quality Audit 10.5.1Stack Emissions 10.5.2Solid/Hazardous Wastes 10.5.3Noise Levels 10.6Health & Safety Audit Mr Shahani also points out that NEERI is an institution established by the Central Government.

5.Mr Guliwala, however, persists that since the NEERI officers have not come to the applicant-unit for personal inspection and for taking samples, the NEERI is not entitled to any fees.

6.It appears that the entire Environmental Audit Scheme is being misread by the applicant. The Scheme is not required to be read like a statute. A purposive reading of the Scheme makes it clear that what was of significance was the external environmental audit by an independent expert agency like NEERI for evaluating whether the Environment Management Systems in a particular unit manufacturing the specified item were adequate for preventing/containing pollution within the specified norms. It was only if NEERI had any doubts as to whether those Environmental Management systems were regularly operated then only the NEERI scientists would be required to come down personally for surprise inspection and for taking samples. After the inspection was carried out and samples were taken by the Officers of GPCB and after studying their reports, if NEERI was of the view that it could evaluate the Environment Management System of a particular unit without going down to that industrial unit for personal inspection, it cannot be said that the NEERI has not performed the task of external audit assigned to it.

7.In view of the above, we see no merit in this application and the same is accordingly dismissed.

The Registry shall pay the amount of Rs.1 lac to NEERI by a demand draft as their fees for external Environmental Audit. If the amount was invested in a fixed deposit, the same shall be paid over to NEERI along with interest accrued thereon.

8.Subject to the aforesaid directions, the application is dismissed.

(N.G. Nandi, J) (M.S. Shah, J) zgs/-