Kerala HC Directs MoEFCC and Director General of Shipping to File Action Plan in Environmental PIL
The Kerala High Court has given the Union two weeks to place a comprehensive action plan before it in three consolidated PILs raising environmental and shipping-related concerns.
A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court, comprising Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan V and Justice K.V. Jayakumar, on 23 June 2026 directed the Union of India, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), the Director General of Shipping, and other concerned Central Government agencies to place a comprehensive and positive action plan before the Court within two weeks. The direction came in three consolidated public interest litigation petitions — W.P.(PIL) Nos. 50, 60 and 70 of 2025 — filed by T.N. Prathapan, Ummer Ottummal, and Charles George respectively, all arraying the Union of India and others as respondents. The matter has been posted to 14 July 2026.
The Petitions Before the Court
The three writ petitions in PIL jurisdiction were filed separately but raise issues that the bench has been hearing together. The petitioners are represented by different sets of counsel. On the respondents' side, the Additional Solicitor General of India, the Deputy Solicitor General of India, the Advocate General for the State of Kerala, the State Attorney, Standing Counsel for the Kerala State Pollution Control Board, and Additional Standing Counsel for the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs are among those appearing.
The MoEFCC was impleaded as a respondent pursuant to the bench's earlier order dated 16 June 2026, indicating that the court had identified the ministry as a necessary party to the proceedings as the matters progressed.
What the 16 June 2026 Order Required
By its order of 16 June 2026, the bench had directed the learned Additional Solicitor General to obtain specific instructions from the official respondents. The court had asked for a detailed status report covering: the measures already undertaken, the steps proposed to be taken, the timelines envisaged for such action, and the present status of compliance with the issues highlighted in that order.
The bench's insistence on timelines and a compliance status report signals that the court was not satisfied with a general assurance and wanted concrete, time-bound commitments from the Central Government agencies involved.
Submissions on 23 June 2026
When the matter came up on 23 June 2026, the Additional Solicitor General informed the bench that the MoEFCC had been impleaded in terms of the 16 June 2026 order. He further submitted that the official respondents — including the MoEFCC, the Director General of Shipping, and other concerned Central Government agencies — proposed to convene a meeting to deliberate upon the issues raised in the court's order and in the writ petitions generally.
The Additional Solicitor General committed that a comprehensive and positive action plan, in conformity with the directions issued by the court, would be placed before the bench within two weeks from 23 June 2026.
Outcome
The bench accepted the submission and posted the matter to 14 July 2026. The order was signed by both Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan V and Justice K.V. Jayakumar. The Central Government agencies, including the MoEFCC and the Director General of Shipping, are now required to convene their deliberations and file the action plan before the next date.