Rajinder Singh And Anr. vs State Of Haryana And Ors.

The petitioner through the instant petition under Articles 226/227 of the Constitution of India prays for a direction to the respondents to take

appropriate steps for controlling the air pollution caused by use of high powered blower fans in cleaning of the paddy crop in the mandi yards at

Market Committee, Tohana. Prayer has also been made for shifting the said process to the new Mandi premises outside the municipal limits of

Tohana town and other mandi yards in the entire State of Haryana, to safeguard the health of citizens especially the people residing in the vicinity of

the mandi premises as well as the farmers who bring their crops in the mandis.

A few facts relevant for the decision of the controversy involved as narrated in the petition may be noticed. The petitioners are commission agents.

They have their shops in Anaj Mandi Tohana, District Fatehbad. They have licences under Section 10 of the Haryana Agricultural Produce Markets

Act, 1961 (in short, “the Actâ€). They are carrying out katcha Arhtiya business in the Notified Market Area, Tohana. The State Government has

the power to declare the Notified Market Area in terms of Section 6 of the Act with one principal market yard and one or more sub market yards as

may be necessary. The State government has the control of sale and purchase of agricultural produce as defined in Section 8 of the Act. The

petitioners being katcha arhtiyas are required to provide additional facilities in terms of Bye-law 28, sub paras 4 and 5 of the Haryana Market

Committee Bye-laws, by providing electrical driven blowers for cleaning or sieving of the agricultural produce like paddy and the charges are to be

fixed by the Market Committee. According to the petitioners, while sieving of the paddy crop, which normally runs from Ist October to 30th

November of each year extendable upto 15th of December, the air pollution increases in the area. A request was made to the Chairman, Haryana

Pollution Control Board by petitioner No.1 on 21.9.2016, Annexure P.1 that not only the shopkeepers, farmers and labourers but also the inhabitants of

the nearby colonies are suffering from asthma and heart related diseases. It was requested to take samples of the air from both new and old grain

mandis, Tohana and take necessary action in the matter. As an interim measure, prayer was made to stop use of power blowers till any permanent

arrangements were made for having another market or some market yards. Having received no response, the petitioners filed a detailed

representation to Sub Divisional Magistrate, District Fatehabad on 12.10.2017, Annexure P.2 regarding restraining the use of power cleaner/duster

cleaner to avoid any air pollution. It was further suggested that in case the shopkeepers wanted to use the power cleaner in the heaps of paddy, then it

could be done in the New Anaj Mandi which had already been set up and working at Jamalpur road. Vide letter dated 23.10.2017, Annexure P.3, the

Market Committee, Tohana informed petitioner No.1 that the instructions had been issued from time to time for making arrangements for cleaning at

the appropriate place. It was further informed that sieving of the paddy crop could not be restrained to be done with power cleaner/duster cleaner as

per the bye-laws. It was also intimated that the matter under reference was within the jurisdiction of the Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board

at Panchkula and the same could be taken up with the Chief Administrator of the said Board. According to the petitioners, the issue of air pollution

was also highlighted in various newspapers. Under Section 8(2) of the Act, the State Government is competent to set up, establish or continue or allow

to be continued any place within a distance of 5 kms. from the outer limits of such market yards for the purchase or sale of any agricultural produce.

Hence the instant writ petition by the petitioners before this court.

We have perused the averments made in the petition and heard learned counsel for the petitioners. The petitioners have failed to put some reliable

report with regard to condition of air pollution on account of cleaning or sieving of paddy and its consequent effects to substantiate the averments

made in the petition except to place reliance upon the photographs or the news item. In the absence of relevant material/data on record, we are unable

to entertain this petition in writ jurisdiction under Articles 226/227 of the Constitution of India. Consequently, we dispose of the petition by granting

liberty to the petitioners to plead their cause by presenting sufficient material on record to substantiate their grievance and file fresh petition in

accordance with law by furnishing better and comprehensive particulars.