HC bench says no to hearing Lavasa petition

The division bench of the Bombay High Court today recused itself from hearing the petition filed by Lavasa Corporation against the Environment and Forest Ministry's notice.

The bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and S J Kathawala was hearing the petition which challenged the show cause notice issued by the Ministry to Lavasa alleging that it had not secured environmental clearances before starting construction activity in the area spread over 5,000 hectares.

However, Chief Justice Shah today informed the lawyer that he will not hear the case as one of his relatives was working with a legal firm that is advising Lavasa Corporation with regard to its Initial Public Offering (IPO).

The hearing will now resume only when the Chief Justice assigns the matter to another bench.

On November 25, the Ministry had issued a show-cause notice to Lavasa, demanding an explanation as to why it did not obtain clearances as per rules under Environment Protection Act, amended by notifications in 1994 and 2004.

It also asked the corporation, which is developing a hill station in Mulshi taluka of Pune district, to stop the ongoing construction.