Supreme Court closes suo motu case on polluted rivers after five years of near inaction

The Supreme Court on Tuesday (February 24, 2026) closed a suo motu case from 2021 on remediation of polluted rivers after five years of near inaction. It directed the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to reopen the case and ensure continued monitoring.

A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant questioned the feasibility of examining the extent of pollution in rivers across the country.

“Is it possible for this court to look at all the polluted rivers? We can look at it one by one. We also keep entertaining so many matters and issue directions… we also have to see that we entertain matters together. Why should we have a multiplicity of issues like this?” Chief Justice Kant asked.

On January 13, 2021, the apex court had taken suo motu cognisance of the contamination of rivers by sewage because of lapses committed by municipalities, saying “open surface water resources, including rivers, are the lifeline of human civilisation”.

“Deterioration of the quality of fresh water has a direct co-relation with the quality of public health… The right to a clean environment, and further, pollution-free water, has been protected under the broad rubric of the right to life,” a three-judge Bench led by then Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde had said in January 2021.

The Bench had been hearing an urgent petition filed by the Delhi Jal Board to “immediately stop” Haryana from discharging pollutants into the Yamuna River.