The Tribunal directed Lavasa, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) and Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) to file their replies to the petition of a project-hit Pune native before July 24.
Lavasa had opposed the petition at the outset on ground that the plea was time barred as it was filed with a delay of 59 days after the grant of environment clearance.
The company had also said that petitioner Dyaneshwar Vishnu Shedge had not come to the Tribunal with "clean hands" and having sold his land for the project, he is "stopped from raising an objection to the EC granted".
Shedge, had contended that he was not aware of the MoEF's order granting EC and after coming to know about it the villagers of Mugaon, of Mulshi Taluka of Pune assembled and took a decision regarding "the further course of action for setting aside the order granting EC".
The Tribunal said that the appeal has been filed within 90 days, thus was in consonance with the provision of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) Act.
As per the NGT Act a plea can be filed within 30 days of passing of an order sought to be challenged and the Tribunal can entertain the petition filed within 60 days after the first 30 days if it is satisfied that the appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from filing the appeal.
"On consideration of submissions advanced interse by the parties we feel in a case like the present one where environmental impact of project on local population in terms of their environmental harm has to be assessed, the approach of this Tribunal, especially set up for the said purpose, should be liberal and not "hyper-technical", a bench headed by the Tribunal's Acting Chairperson Justice A S Naidu said. (More)
