Bombay High Court Seeks Union Government's Response On Inclusion Of Plastic Flowers In Single-Use Plastics Ban

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday asked the Union of India to inform whether it considered the recommendations made by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) of the inclusion of plastic flowers in the list of banned single-use plastics.

A division bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Amit Borkar directed the Government of India (GOI) to file an affidavit on the same while hearing a petition filed by the Growers Flowers Council of India (GFCI), which sought a direction to ban the use of plastic flowers in Maharashtra.

The HC had earlier issued notices to Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), CPCB, and Ministry of Environment and Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) seeking ban on plastic flowers which are less than 100 microns.

The court was informed that in September 2022, the CPCB had written a letter to the GOI stating that an expert committee constituted by the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals had included plastic flowers in the list of banned single-use plastic items. The CPCB had thus requested the GOI to include plastic flowers in the list.

The counsel for the Center, however, told the bench that the expert committee did not recommend including plastic flowers within the list of single-use plastic items.

Hence, the bench asked the counsel for Union of India to take instructions on the contents of the letter written by CPCB. The judges then directed the Centre to file an affidavit disclosing whether the recommendations mentioned in the letter for banning plastic flowers were considered and whether any decision has been taken.

“We thus call upon the counsel of UOI not only to seek instruction of contents of the letter by CPCB, but also to file an affidavit sworn in by responsible officers in MoEFCC disclosing as to whether recommendations as mentioned in letter were considered and if yes, if any decision has been taken,” the bench said.

The Centre has been directed to file the affidavit by the next date of hearing on November 27.

During the last hearing, the court highlighted the seriousness of the issue. The Chief Justice had said that during a visit to a protection home for kids in Lucknow, he learnt that plastic was found in the children's excreta.

The plea contended that MPCB issued a notification on March 8, 2022, prohibiting production, stocking, distribution and sale of single-use plastic items. Although the notification included plastic sticks, ice cream sticks, plates, and cups, it did not mention anything about plastic flowers.

The plea added that the Maharashtra Non-Biodegradable Garbage (Control) Act, 2006 also empowered the state government to issue notification prohibiting the use of such materials.