The petition, filed by MPMA last week, is its second in the last two months. (Express photo)
The Maharashtra Plastic Manufacturers Association (MPMA) had filed a writ petition in the Bombay High Court last week, seeking lifting of the blanket ban on plastic. “Yes, we have filed a petition in the High Court seeking lifting of the ban,” said Ravi Jashnani, president of the Maharashtra Plastic Manufacturers Association. “The ban has affected thousands of plastic units and lakhs of employees. Plastic units have made investment of nearly Rs 5,000 crore. Some of the machines are worth crores, the ban will turn them into scrap…,” said Jashnani.
On March 23, the state government had issued the Maharashtra Plastic and Thermocol Products (Manufacture, Usage, Sale, Transport, Handling and Storage) notification, banning manufacturing, use, storage, distribution, wholesale or retail sale, import and transportation of all kinds of plastic bags (with or without handle), single-use disposable items made of plastic and thermocol such as dishes, cups, plates, glasses, fork, bowls, spoons, straws, containers, non-woven polypropylene bags, pouches, cling films and small PET and PETE bottles with the carrying capacity of less than half a litre. The government had also banned plastic and thermocol items used for decoration.
Stating that such bans have not achieved much in other states, Jashnani said it violates Article 19 (1)(G) of the Constitution of India, which provides the Right to practice any profession or to carry on any occupation, trade or business to the citizens.
MPMA said the Maharashtra government had imposed ban on plastic in a bid to protect the environment. “However, the plastic ban will force people to use more of paper bags, for which more trees will be cut. This will cause more damage to the environment,” said MPMA office-bearers.
The petition, filed by MPMA last week, is the second one in less than two months. The first petition was filed after a public notice was issued by the state environment department, alerting about the possibility of the ban. In response to a plea challenging the state’s decision to ban the sale of plastic items, a bench of justices A S Oka and P N Deshmukh asked the government to file an affidavit within a week. The petition claimed that the order was arbitrary and that it was passed without following the principles of natural justice.
After the MPMA filed the petition challenging its January 2 order to all civic bodies and authorities, the state government in February had told the Bombay High Court that the draft policy for banning plastic and thermocol items was yet to be finalised.
The government’s advocate said objections and suggestions had been invited. The government had then told the court that it would take a month to finalise the draft. The draft policy was finally submitted on March 23.