We hope and trust that the Union of India will proceed to pass suitable orders and directions regarding use of PVC and chlorinated plastics in banners/hoardings used during elections: Supreme Court

By - Divisha Srivastava*

Concerning the usage of PVC and chlorinated plastics in banners/hoardings used during elections, the Supreme Court has expressed “hope and faith” that the Union of India will take appropriate decisions and pass instructions after finalising objections to the draft notification on the matter.

The bench of Justices L. Nageswara Rao and Aniruddha Bose was hearing an appeal against the NGT's November 2019 ruling on the subject of remedial steps to prohibit the use of PVC and chlorinated plastics in election-related materials such as banners, hoardings, and the like. 

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NGT had noted that the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (“the Ministry”) has issued directions to the Chief Electoral Officers and to the Chief Secretaries of all States and Union Territories encouraging them to use alternative material in election campaigning such as biodegradable plastics, natural fabrics, recycling paper material, etc.

The NGT then dismissed the application directing that appropriate steps should be taken for compliance of the aforementioned directions and noted that the Ministry and the Chief Election Commission have both stated that the usage of plastic during elections, particularly banners and hoardings, should be avoided. 

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The appellant’s urgent concern, before the bench, was that the Ministry must issue certain directions under Section 5 of the Environment Protection Act, 1986, prohibiting the use of PVC and chlorinated plastics for election campaigning.

The court also took note of ASG Aishwarya Bhati’s statement that a draft notification had been issued seeking objections from all stakeholders in order to ban several kinds of plastic, including PVC, with a thickness of less than 100 microns.

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“We hope and trust that the Union of India will proceed to pass suitable orders and directions after finalizing the objections to the draft notification.”, the bench observed.

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*Divisha Srivastava is a 1st year student pursuing B.B.A.LL.B from S.N.D.T School of Law, Mumbai, Maharashtra.