Plastic Flowers Not Prohibited Item: Central Govt Tells Bombay High Court In Plea To Ban Plastic Flowers

The Union of India (UOI) made this submission in view of a letter written by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) on dated 11th September 2023 to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEFCC), the CPCB had requested for inclusion of plastic flowers in the list of banned single use plastic items.

The petition filed by the Growers Flowers Council of India prays to declare plastic flowers as single use plastic and ban their usage. On previous occasion, the Court had asked the Central government to file an affidavit on whether it considered the recommendations made by the CPCB for the inclusion of plastic flowers in the list of banned single-use plastics.

Today during the hearing, the counsel representing the UOI told the Court that the CPCB's recommendation has no basis as there is no supporting material to it. She said that the union government does not propose to consider plastic flowers as single use plastic. She further stated that the MOEFCC has considered the utility and environmental impact of plastic flowers.

A division bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice MS Karnik questioned the petitioner if there is any statutory provision mandating the ban of plastic flowers. The Court orally remarked that it could issue a writ only when there is a prohibition in law against plastic flower.

In response, the petitioner's counsel submitted that as per a notice issued by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), production, distribution and sale of single use plastic of less than 100 microns is prohibited. He stated that as CPCB, MPCB and NGT orders call for a ban on use of plastic flower. He further submitted that the State government has the power to issue a notification prohibiting the usage of plastic flowers.

However, the Court noted that the petition does not pray to issue a notification and said that the ban on plastic flowers can be enforced only where there is a statutory ban. CJ Aradhe said that the ban cannot be done by an interpretative process, but only when there is provision banning it. He orally remarked “It is one thing to say they are liberty to issue a notification...but you are asking us to ban it. We have to think from fundamental rights perspective also. Persons have fundamental right to carry on their business, it has to be taken away in a manner known by law and not just by interpretative process. If we ban it we don't know how many people will be out of employment.”

When the petitioner argued that the plastic flowers are less than 100 microns, the Court commented that it is not an expert body which can record a finding that plastic flowers are less than 100 microns. It reiterated that it cannot issue a writ of mandamus if there is no statutory ban.

The petitioner then prayed for liberty to amend the petition. The Court granted the liberty and kept the matter after 3 weeks.

Case title: Growers Flowers Council of India (GFCI) and Anr. vs. Union of India & Ors. (Writ Petition No. 9265 Of 2024)