The Supreme Court recently referred to the Centrally Empowered Committee certain environmental issues pertaining to Himachal Pradesh, including the notified green belt areas of Shimla.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta ordered that the CEC shall examine the issues in a phased manner and file interim reports while dealing with three issues at a time.

For the said purpose, the Committee shall hold meetings with the State's instrumentalities and would be at liberty to call for records, data, etc. from the state authorities and/or any other agency, as deemed fit. The State and its instrumentalities, on their part, shall accord full cooperation to the CEC in terms of manpower, logistic support and information.

The CEC shall further examine issues pertaining to ecological preservation of Shimla Planning Area and submit an interim/separate report thereon giving recommendations. These issues were flagged before the Court by way of 2 interlocutory applications filed by one Yogendra Mohan Sengupta.

As per the order, for the purpose of carrying out the entire exercise, the CEC may associate with experts or technical agencies having subject expertise. It may further carry out site inspections and field visits wherever considered necessary.

The order was passed in a suo motu case initiated by the Court following widespread devastation of lives and properties in Himachal Pradesh due to flash floods and landslides in early 2025. In September, the Court had directed the State to file a comprehensive response on a wide range of issues concerning its fragile ecology and environmental conditions.

At the time, a Justice Nath-led bench had noted that the State and the Himalayan region as a whole were facing a “serious existential crisis” as unregulated development activities compounded natural vulnerabilities.

Prior to that, the Court had remarked that “humans, not nature” were responsible for recurring landslides, collapsing buildings, and sinking roads, with factors such as hydropower projects, four-lane highways, deforestation, and multi-storey constructions contributing significantly to the disaster.

Vide the September order, the Court also adopted a questionnaire prepared by Amicus and Senior Advocate K Parmeswar (assisted by Advocate Akashi Lodha). The broad heads under which information was sought from the State included: Zoning, Forests and Tree Cover, Compensatory Afforestation, Climate Change, Roads, Hydroelectric Projects, Mining and heavy machinery, and, Tourism and Constructions.

Following the aforesaid, the State filed a response, however, the Amicus claimed that the same was not based on contemporaneous data. He further drew the court's attention to the 2 applications filed by Sengupta, highlighting concerns regarding the Shimla Planning Area and notified green belt areas in Shimla.

These applications sought directions for protection and restoration of the notified green belt areas of Shimla. Further, they pointed out a 2017 judgment of the NGT regulating construction activities in ecologically fragile areas of Shimla. This judgment directed the State to finalize the Development Plan for Shimla in accordance with environmental safeguards outlined therein. Though the said judgment was appealed against by the state, in 2024, the Supreme Court statedly upheld the Development Plan in principle and continued protection to the notified green belt areas in Shimla.

Sengupta however urged that despite the court's directions, the green belt areas were facing continued degradation due to construction activities, hill cutting, removal of top soil and cutting of trees. He further sought directions for status quo on new construction activities, removal of illegal structures, etc.

Since the Amicus submitted that broadly there were 9 thematic issues, and the same could effectively be gone into by the CEC, the Court passed the order referring the issues to CEC. While the CEC counsel submitted that the Committee was prepared to undertake the exercise, the State also gave its no-objection.

Case Title: IN RE: ISSUES RELATING TO ECOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS PREVAILING IN THE STATE OF HIMACHAL PRADESH | Writ Petition (Civil) No. 758 of 2025

Click here to read the order