'Pursue farmers against stubble burning, don't want to punish them': SC tells govt

"We do not want to penalise the farmers. We have already asked the Centre to pursue and request those farmers to not burn stubble at least for a week," Chief Justice NV Ramana said today, reported NDTV.

"Debates on TV are causing more pollution than any other sources. Everyone has their own agenda there. We are trying to work out a solution here," the Chief Justice said pulling up the officials for indulging in blame game on the issue, the report added.

"Irrespective of figures in affidavits, we have to consider the plight of the farmers...what compels him to burn the stubble? Nobody is concerned about that. People sleeping in five-star hotels in Delhi blame farmers. Look at such small landholdings. Can they afford the machines you all talk about?" said Justice Surya Kant, who had earlier insisted on providing incentives to find alternative, the report said.

The apex court's remarks came as the Centre and the Delhi government blamed each other over air pollution in Delhi.

The Centre told SC that fires have only 10 percent share in the national capital's severe pollution.

As the hearing began, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the court, "We heard some nasty utterances on TV about me that I misled the court by saying stubble burning is only contributing 4-7 percent. We had said in our affidavit that some factors like stubble burning contribute more after October to pollution. It's not throughout the year."

In response, Chief Justice NV Ramana said, "These figures are not important for us. Unless the parties in the case are trying to divert the issue. We are concerned with lowering pollution. When you hold a public office, you are bound to get such criticism. When conscience is clear there is no issue. Forget it."

"Forget the politics... it is our duty to tell you that stubble burning is a cause. It varies from 0 to 58 percent, based on the month we are talking about. The Solicitor General may have taken a four-month or six-month average," Delhi government's lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi stressed.

But Chief Justice Ramana delivered a sharp reprimand, "If you keep raising these other things like that then the main issue will not get resolved."

Petitioner's lawyer Vikas Singh told the court said, "Air pollution is an endemic problem. The Supreme Court asks the government, and the governments say 'we will do this and that'... but nothing happens. It's wrongly reported that stubble contributes only 10 percent to air pollution. It could be up to 50 percent during the current season. We are not into farmer bashing. But stubble burning is a serious problem."

Expressing disappointment, the Chief Justice said, "The government of India, over a period of time, I have observed that the bureaucracy has developed inertia. They want everything to be done by the court - water sprinkling, stopping fires... It's unfortunate on the part of the Executive.

"Two hours of our time was wasted. We had already asked you to take a call after joint meetings."