BackHarish Salve: Friend of court, friend of environment
Harish Salve, friend of the court, now turned friend of environment, will have a bigger role to play in the days ahead as the pollution battle continues in the courts
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New Delhi: On 16 December, a bench of the Supreme Court led by chief justice T.S Thakur banned the sale of diesel passenger vehicles with engine capacity of 2 litres and above till 31 March and directed taxis in Delhi and the National Capital Region to shift to CNG fuel. It also doubled the entry tax on trucks into the city and took 10-year-old diesel-powered commercial vehicles off the city’s roads. Environmental activists cheered outside the court room; a black robe joined them a little later.
The lawyer was former solicitor general and amicus curiae (Latin for ‘friend of the court,’ officer appointed to assist the court) Harish Salve. “We’ve just won a 12-year-long battle," he said to Sunita Narain, director general at the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a Delhi-based organization of environmental activists.
In the last few weeks, much of the debate and discussion on pollution in the capital has been propelled by the top courts. The Supreme Court, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and the Delhi high court have spoken on issues ranging from mitigating pollution levels, curbing use of diesel, levying green taxes and the ongoing road rationing scheme in Delhi.
In the past few months, the Supreme Court and NGT have issued a series of directives to tackle air pollution.
Salve’s own role is no less significant.
His crusade in the courts dates back to 1985, when he was appointed amicus in a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by environmentalist M.C Mehta. The orders in this case led to the use of CNG by all public transport buses in Delhi.
“He has been innovative and driven in his arguments in court and that is surely showing in the kind of impact we’ve had on the courts," said Narain, whose organization briefs Salve for court hearings.
“After all, a corporate lawyer taking on top companies in court shows that he is willing to walk that extra mile," she added, referring to the next hearing on 20 January in the apex court, in which auto giants Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt. Ltd, Mercedes-Benz India Pvt. Ltd and Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd have sought modification of an order restraining the registration of high-end diesel vehicles in Delhi. The auto manufacturers are represented by senior advocates including Kapil Sibal, P. Chidamabaram and Abhishek M. Singhvi.
On 8 January, the Delhi high court reserved a decision on a challenge to the government’s odd-even policy on the ground of inconvenience caused to people in the city. Salve, appearing on behalf of the Delhi government, took on a total of 11 challenges to the scheme.
Karun Chhatwal, one of the petitioners, claimed that it was unfair to grant exemption to two-wheelers while ignoring that they accounted to a third of pollution, according to findings of an IIT Kanpur report.
Lawyers asked for exemption from the scheme as they had to go to different courts each day while carrying files, briefs and notes; an arduous task using public transport facilities. Another petitioner, Nipun Malhotra highlighted the cause of disabled being ignored under the scheme.
Just when it looked like these petitioners had made headway, Rahul Mehra, Delhi government’s standing counsel informed the court that Salve would join the court shortly and respond to the petitioners.
The data-driven gentleman held the court’s attention for over an hour with figures and numbers. While agreeing that the quality of air in the city was poor, Salve explained that the scheme had been designed to provide immediate relief from the alarming levels of pollution, adding that there were other long-term measures awaiting implementation.
One man, the petitioners’ lawyer, Rajiv Khosla remained unimpressed. “If it was some other advocate, in all likelihood, he would not have been given more than five minutes by the bench."
On 11 January, the high court decided to allow the odd-even scheme trial till 15 January as scheduled and asked the Delhi government to consider issues raised by the petitioners.
The friend of the court, now turned friend of environment, will only have a bigger role to play in the days ahead as the pollution battle continues in the courts.
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