Institute of Legal and Management Studies

A public interest litigation has been filed before the Supreme Court seeking to curb rising air pollution levels across India.

The PIL, filed by one Luke Christopher Countinho (wellness champion for Prime Minister of India's, Fit India Movement), says that air pollution levels in the country have assumed proportions of a “public health emergency”, severely impacting citizens in both rural and urban areas.

The petitioner avers that despite a thorough policy framework, the ambient air quality in large parts of rural and urban India remains consistently poor and, in many instances, has worsened. He seeks directions to the respondent-authorities to control and reduce air pollution, invoking right to life and health under Article 21 of the Constitution.

The petition highlights that the annual averages of pollutants such as PM₂.₅ and PM₁₀ in major Indian cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, etc. continue to exceed the permissible limits prescribed under the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), 2009, notified by the Central Pollution Control Board.

It is illustrated that the stipulated upper permissible limit of annual mean is 40 μg/m³ for PM₂.₅ and 60 μg/m³ for PM₁₀. However, the actual annual average of PM₂.₅ levels in Delhi has been recorded at approx. 105 μg/m³, in Kolkata at approx. 33 μg/m³, and in Lucknow at approx. 90 μg/m³, thereby violating Indian standards.

The petitioner highlights that Indian standards already prescribe a higher permissible limit, as the World Health Organization's 2021 Air Quality Guidelines stipulate an annual mean limit of 5 μg/m³ for PM₂.₅ and 15 μg/m³ for PM₁₀.

“In practice, annual averages in cities such as Delhi (PM₂.₅ ≈ 105 μg/m³), Kolkata (PM₂.₅ ≈ 33 μg/m³), Patna (PM₂.₅ ≈ 131 AQI equivalent), and Lucknow (PM₂.₅ ≈ 90 μg/m³) are not only far above national standards but more than 10-20 times the safe limits recommended by the WHO, thereby placing millions of residents at serious risk of respiratory, cardiovascular, and neurological harm.”

Calling authorities' failure to tackle the issue “persistent and systemic”, the petitioner asserts that over 1.4 billion citizens are compelled to inhale toxic air every day. He further states that rural areas' exclusion from air quality monitoring programs represents a fundamental structural weakness.

It is contended that the Union Government, together with various State Governments, has announced ambitious schemes and measures for air quality management, but the implementation on the ground has been weak, fragmented, and largely symbolic.

“The National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), launched in 2019 with the target of reducing particulate matter by 20–30 percent by 2024 (subsequently extended to 40 percent by 2026), has not met its modest objectives. As of July 2025, official data reveals that only 25 of the 130 designated cities have achieved a 40 percent reduction in PM₁₀ levels from the 2017 baseline, while 25 other cities have in fact seen an increase.”

“In Delhi alone, 2.2 million schoolchildren have already suffered irreversible lung damage, as confirmed by government and medical studies”, the plea adds.

The petitioner also submits that air quality monitoring systems are inadequate. “Experts estimate that at least 4,000 stations – 2,800 in urban areas and 1,200 in rural areas – are required to capture real trends, yet NCAP has consistently fallen short of its targets. The monitoring that does exist is urban-centric, leaving rural areas, industrial belts, informal settlements, and vulnerable communities outside the purview of systematic assessment. This results in critical “data shadows,” where exposure risks of the most marginalized populations remain invisible in official policy, despite being the most affected.”

It is further his contention that regulatory environment under the Air Act, 1981 and related statutes has been steadily weakened. Due to investment of insufficient resources, fragmented oversight and outsourcing of enforcement, there is widespread evasion of emission norms.

"Independent assessments of Bharat Stage VI vehicles in the National Capital Region revealed nitrogen oxide emissions many times higher than the permissible limits: 3.2 times for three-wheelers, twice for cars, nearly five times for taxis, and over fourteen times for buses. Yet, despite these violations, no systemic enforcement action was taken. Indeed, in 2019, not a single criminal case was filed under the Air Act in Delhi, despite it being one of the most polluted cities globally."

The petitioner also pleads that GRAP was designed to provide emergency measures during severe air quality episodes, but its activation is frequently delayed until air quality deteriorates to “severe plus” category. “Temporary measures such as mist sprayers, anti-smog guns, and artificial rain trials may provide symbolic reassurance but do little to mitigate emissions at the source.”

In this backdrop, the petitioner seeks reliefs including:

(i) declaration of air pollution as a National Public Health Emergency and framing of time-bound National Action Plan by Union government;

(ii) making NCAP targets binding with statutory force, including clear timelines, measurable indicators, and enforceable penalties for non-compliance;

(iii) constitution of a National Task Force on Air Quality and Public Health chaired by an independent eminent environmental health expert and comprising representatives from MoEFCC, MoHFW, CPCB, CAQM, NITI Aayog, State Governments, and civil society;

(iv) Immediate measures to curb agricultural residue burning, including deployment of alternatives (in-situ management, subsidized machinery) and state-level incentive mechanisms for farmers.

(v) Steps to phase out high-emitting vehicles, operationalize vehicle scrappage policy, and incentivise public transport, e-mobility, and non-motorised transport with central support;

(vi) Enforcement of industrial emission norms, mandatory continuous emission monitoring (CEMS), and disclosure of emission data.

The petition has been filed through AoR Rooh-e-Hina Dua.

Case Title: LUKE CHRISTOPHER COUNTINHO VERSUS UNION OF INDIA AND ORS., W.P.(C) No. 1059/2025