BAYER INDIA LIMITED Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By an order made on 6/02/1991 this court (Ranganath Misra, C. J. , M. H. Kania and Kuldip Singh, JJ. ) disposed of Civil Appeal No. 578 of 1991 directing the appellants (applicants herein) to file a petition in the Bombay High court seeking review of the order impugned in the said appeal. It was directed that if such a review petition is filed within the period prescribed, "the hearing of the review application will not be confined to the normal ground on which review can be sought but the entire controversy will be regarded as open as between the appellants herein and the respondent". It was further directed that "the interim order made by this court on 8/01/1991 will continue to remain in operation till the review petition is decided by the High court. However, it will be open for the High court to vary or vacate the interim order on appropriate applications made to it by any. of the parties or by any of the intervenors here. . in our opinion the review petition deserves to be disposed of with expedition and we would, therefore, request the High court to dispose of the review petition, if filed as aforestated, within four months from today and in any event by 30/09/1991. " The matter was directed to be posted before the learned chief justice of the Bombay High court for making appropriate directions.

(2.) The appellants have now come forward with this application complaining that while not disposing of the review petition filed by them till now, the High court has, under the orders impugned herein, directed the Municipal Corporation of city of Thane and the State of Maharashtra "to implement the order dated 29/11/1990 in Writ Petition No. 5189 of 1990 on or before 15/01/1993 without prejudice to the rights and contentions of both sides". Under the order dated 29/11/1990 the Bombay High court had quashed the communication of the respondent-corporation dated 9/01/1990 and directed the Corporation to "consider revalidation of the petitioners' plan sanctioned on 11/08/1989 vide commencement certificate Ex. B to the petition in accordance with law without taking into consideration the reason mentioned in the said communication dated 9/01/1990 Ex. C to the petition within eight weeks from today". In short, the effect of the order is that it directs the Corporation to revalidate the plans submitted by Shri Sai Baba Construction Company and certain other persons (petitioners in Writ Petition No. 5189 of 1990 which were sanctioned earlier on 11/08/1989 but which came to nought by virtue of the communication dated 9/01/1990.

(3.) Briefly stated the dispute is this: The appellants are manufacturers of chemicals and drugs. They have their factories within the limits of Thane municipality. At the time these factories were established there were no residential buildings anywhere near these factories. In course of time, however, many builders and other private persons have come forward to construct buildings in the vicinity of these factories. The appellants-applicants say that hazardous substances and gases are stored and utilised in the said factories and that the danger of an explosion or aleak like the one that took place in Bhopal in 1984, cannot be ruled out. If any such accident happens it may lead to greater damage to human life than at Bhopal. To guard against any such eventuality, they say that within a radius of one kilometre, no residential buildings should be allowed to be constructed. It is on this basis that they had come to this court in Civil Appeal No. 578 of 1991 and it was this submission which this court requested the Bombay High court to consider in the review petition filed by the applicants.