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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Lavasa Corp officials face 5 years in jail

Lavasa Corp officials face 5 years in jail

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published Published on Nov 5, 2011   modified Modified on Nov 5, 2011

-The Times of India

 

The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) on Friday filed a criminal complaint against Lavasa Corporation and 15 people, including nine directors and six senior officials, for alleged violation of environmental laws.

Sources in the ministry of environment and forests said that with this final pre-condition for clearance met by the Maharashtra government, the Centre would soon clear the project allowing work to continue on the first phase of the hill city coming up near Pune. The complaint was filed in the court of CJM N T Ghadge in Pune under sections 15 and 16 of the Environment Protection Act.

Violations under the Environment Protection Act, under which Lavasa Corporation and 15 officials have been charged, attract a penalty of up to Rs 1 lakh or imprisonment up to five years. MoEF had put five pre-conditions as norms to consider the clearance proposal for the first phase, covering 2,000 hectares.

Initially, Lavasa Corporation accepted all the pre-conditions, but later contested one clause that stated the state government should take action against it for any violation. However, there have been almost no cases in the past where officials have gone to jail for similar contraventions of law.

MPCB regional officer P K Mirashe, who refused to reveal the names of those mentioned in the complaint, said, "We have filed the case against people who were associated with the company in 2004, when the alleged violation of environment laws had taken place."

The MPCB action comes following the Bombay high court order asking the state government to take credible action against the company for alleged violation of environmental laws.

Pune CJM N T Ghadge said further process on the complaint will take place only after she scrutinised the documents.

MoEF argued its case in the courts and passed a conditional clearance to Lavasa. It ordered that the project could be cleared afresh if the Maharashtra government took action against the company's officials for previous violations and the company itself met several stringent norms.

Even as the court directed the Centre to take a decision, MoEF made it clear that it was not ready to overlook existing contraventions in order to clear the project. It took a strong position demanding that the state government act against the promoters and officials of Lavasa Corporation before it gives the green signal to the mega project.

MPCB regional officer Mirashe, who was present in court, told TOI that they had submitted around 50 to 60 pages of documents before the court, including the complaint application of around five pages and other related documents.

Lavasa Corporation's spokesperson Ravindra Lohokare, who was also present in court, said, "In compliance with the pre-conditions set by the MoEF for granting environment clearance to the Lavasa project, the state government has taken necessary action by filing a complaint in the magistrate's court. It is unfortunate that the state government, which had itself granted environment clearance to Lavasa in 2004, has had to initiate this action." Lohokare said the action by the government was incidentally the only pre-condition coming in the way of the project getting environment clearance.

The Times of India, 5 November, 2011, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Lavasa-Corp-officials-face-5-years-in-jail/articleshow/10614104.cms


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