The Karnataka High Court had held that the consent granted by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) for the second-stage development of the Karwar port in Uttara Kannada district was illegal.
The then Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka (now elevated to the Supreme Court) and Justice Suraj Govindaraj had opined that the KSPCB had acted in a manner that defeated the very objective of setting up the Board.
The judgment came on a public interest litigation (PIL) petition challenging the consent granted by the KSPCB for the second-stage development of the Karwar port.
Interestingly, except for finding illegality in the KSPCB process, the High Court Bench rejected all the other objections raised by the petitioners against the project.
The High Court had, therefore, allowed KSPCB to take a fresh decision for grant of consent within a month by adhering to the provisions of the laws related to control of air and water pollution.
Source: Barandbench
