Hearing in NTC mills case adjourned till Jan 3

The Supreme Court today adjourned hearing of the NTC mills case till January 3 after the Bombay Environment Action Group (BEAG) began replying to the arguments of the private mills and the NTC counsel.

BEAG counsel Harish Salve submitted that the closed private mills would earn many times more by the 2001 amendment made to the 1991 regulations.

He supported the Bombay High Court judgment that had struck down the Development Control Rule "" DC rule 58"" which allowed mill owners to exclude the "already developed" land from the land to be made available to the state.

Though the bench consisting of Justice S B Sinha and Justice P P Naolekar expected to complete the hearing today, the BEAG could start its reply only in the afternoon as the mill counsel took up all three days.

Salve emphasised the environmental aspects of the development plans and supported the strict conditions which were in force initially, to be later changed. He also stressed that the BEAG was not concerned about who sells to whom as long as the green regulations are complied with.