Supreme Court Asks Petitioners Challenging Plaster Of Paris Idol Immersion To Approach Bombay High Court
The Supreme Court recently disposed of the special leave petitions challenging the interim orders of the Bombay High Court, which permitted the use of Plaster of Paris(PoP) for idol manufacture and immersion of it in artifical ponds during religious festivals.
The special leave petition challenged the two interim orders of the High Court as well as the State Government's Idol Immersion Policy, which allows PoP idols exceeding five feet in height(now six feet) to be immersed in natural water bodies, subject to retrieval by municipal authorities. The petition, filed through Advocate Srishti Agnihotri and argued by Senior Advocate Anitha Shenoy, contended that these orders permit the manufacture and immersion of PoP idols in natural water bodies despite a statutory prohibition under the Central Pollution Control Board's (CPCB) Revised Guidelines for Idol Immersion dated May 12, 2020.
It may be recalled that the Bombay High Court, by its interim order dated June 9, 2025, modified its earlier directions passed on January 30, 2025, and lifted the prohibition on the use of PoP for making idols. The High Court, however, said that such idols could not be immersed in natural water bodies without its prior leave.
On July 24, 2025, the High Court extended the Idol Immersion Policy to remain in force until March 2026. It further increased the permissible height of such idols from five feet to six feet. It said that idols till the height of six feet will be mandatorily immersed in artifical ponds and water tanks.
The petitioner argued that the High Court erred in treating the CPCB guidelines as merely advisory rather than binding. It is argued that the guidelines were issued under Section 16 of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, and have been consistently upheld by the National Green Tribunal, various High Courts, and the Supreme Court as mandatory.
However, the bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said that since the CPCB Guidelines are already under challenge before the High Court, there is nothing that this Court can do now.
It disposed of the matter, giving liberty to the petitioner to approach the High Court and assist in the pending proceedings.
It ordered: "We are informed that the Guidelines issued by Central Pollution Control Board in the year 2020 and the nature thereof are under challenge before the High Court and that the matter is currently sub-judice.
That being so, we dispose of these Special Leave Petitions with liberty to the petitioner(s) to assist the High Court in those pending proceedings. The remaining directions issued by the High Court were time-bound and the Special Leave Petitions qua those directions have, thus, become infructuous."