New Delhi, October 26: The Supreme Court was promised by the Centre on Monday that a new law to mitigate the crisis of air pollution would be tabled soon. The proposed legislation, which is expected to be brought into effect via an ordinance since the Parliament is not in session, will be aimed at curbing the menace of air pollution in Delhi-NCR and adjoining regions. Delhi Air Pollution: Air Quality in National Capital Continues to Remain in ‘Very Poor’ Category.

Based on the Centre's submission, the apex court bench headed by Chief Justice of India SA Bobde decided t suspend the one-man committee of Justice (retd) Madan B Lokur, which was put in charge of monitoring the steps being taken by governments of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi to bring down the pollution levels.

The CJI announced today that it has kept its October 16 order, which led to the formation of Lokur panel, "in abeyance". He asked the central government to take adequate action considering the severity of the problem.

"Welcome step, this is something that government should have acted on. This is not a matter for PIL...The only issue is that people are choking because of pollution and it is something which must be curbed," the Chief Justice was reported as saying.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta assured that the court that the central government would be "acting on a war-footing" to curb the menace, reported Livemint. Advocate Harish Salve, who is acting as amicus curiae in the case, also supported the government's proposal to create a new law to prevent the deterioration of air quality.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 26, 2020 05:26 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).