SC stays NGT order of Rs 15 crore fine on Coca Cola bottling unit

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has stayed the National Green Tribunal (NGT) order, which imposed Rs 15 crore penalty on, Moon Beverages, a key bottler for Coca-Cola company for violating the environment laws.

A bench comprising Justices L. Nageswara Rao, B R Gavai, and A S Bopanna said: “There shall be stay of operation of the impugned judgment and order dated passed by the National Green Tribunal, Principal Bench on  25 February 2022, stands dispose of”.

The top court was hearing an appeal filed by Moon Beverages Ltd challenging NGT’s order imposing an environmental compensation of Rs 1.85 crore on Moon Beverages Ltd located at Greater Noida, Rs 13.24 crore on Moon Beverage Ltd’s Sahibabad unit, and Rs 9.71 crore on Varun Beverages Ltd’s Greater Noida unit.

MBL and Varun Beverages challenged the NGT’s order before the apex court.

MBL, is one of the major manufacturing units of the Coca-Cola Company operating out of north India, was saddled with a liability to pay environment compensation to the tune of approximately Rs 15 crore by the NGT.

The tribunal said the bottling plants were working in violation of the environment law of Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) as they were functioning without the required NOC to extract the groundwater.

The NGT had noted that the environmental compensation, received from project ponents (PPs), should be utilized for recharge of ground water, restoration of environmental damage, etc. “For this purpose, we constitute a joint committee comprising, MOEF&CC, MOJS, CPCB, CGWA, UPGWD (Uttar Pradesh Ground Water Department) and District Magistrates of concerned districts. CPCB and CGWA shall be nodal authorities.

“Committee shall prepare restoration plan within 2 months, execute the same in next 6 months and submit compliance report to Registrar General, NGT, Principal Bench, and New Delhi”, said the tribunal.