Bombay High Court warns NMMC over Mumbai Air pollution; says 'will stop salary'

The Bombay High Court has warned the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) that their continued failure to curb air pollution, would lead to commissioner’s salary being stopped for non-compliance with court's earlier directions.

A bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekar and Justice Suman Shyam noted that the counsel on behalf of the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation, in response to a Court’s query whether 11 construction sites which were inspected by the Committee of Advocate Commissioners have been visited, verified and any action was taken thereon, nothing was indicated in the affidavit dated 20th January 2026 sworn by the City Engineer, NMMC as regards even a visit by the officers or a team of officers of the NMMC to those 11 sites which fall within its jurisdiction.

"There is a flagrant disregard and violation of this Court’s order by the Municipal Commissioner, NMMC against whom we propose to pass an order directing him not to draw his salary till the Court permits him to do so. Just to indicate, if we come to a conclusion that there is no genuine and sincere effort made by the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, we may pass a similar order against the Municipal Commissioner of the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation", the bench further noted.

Court further noted that the affidavits filed showing compliances did not give any details on many material aspects of the matter. "For example, there is no details at all given in the affidavit filed by the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai on several aspects as regards 25 installations which were visited by the Committee of Advocate Commissioners. There is also no details provided as to the reason why about 500 construction sites are operating without any Air Quality Monitor," the bench said.

In December 2025, High Court said that a lot more has to be done by the MCGM, NMMC and the MPCB as the present level of monitoring by them does not find approval of this Court as the repeated directions issued by the High Court and the undertakings given by the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM, NMMC and Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) were observed more in breach than in compliance.

High Court was hearing a suo motu public interest litigation (PIL) initiated in 2023, along with a batch of intervention applications filed recently amid a sharp deterioration in air quality across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.

In October 2023 the High Court had taken suo motu cognizance of the issue after noting that various newspaper articles/reports took note of the deteriorating air quality in City of Mumbai as also its surrounding areas.

"According to Air Quality Index (AQI) monitoring chart, an AQI between 0 and 50 is termed `good’, between 51 and 100 `satisfactory’, 101 and 200 `moderate’, 201 and 300 `poor’, 301 and 400 `very poor’ and an AQI beyond 400 AQI is `severe’. Today’s Times of India, Mumbai edition reports that the air quality in Mumbai has been “unhealthy” for over three consecutive days and that Mumbai is now ranked 7th in the list of the most polluted cities globally", the High Court order had noted.

Court has relied on Mumbai Edition of The Indian Express, wherein a Senior Scientist and Project Director in SAFAR (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecast and Research) had been quoted to say, “When AQI readings are between 200 and 300, it impacts vulnerable groups like senior citizens and children as well as people with co-morbidities, but people with good health condition will not be very much affected. However, if the AQI readings cross 300 or 400, it will start affecting a wider base of people and higher the readings climb, more and more people will be affected."

Case Title: SUO MOTU PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION NO.3 OF 2023

Bench: Chief Justice and Justice Shyam

Order Date: January 23, 2026