The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on April 2, 2026, modified the interim order passed on February 11, 2026. It permitted the state of Punjab to take further action in pursuance to the tender notices related to de-silting of silt and removal of riverbed material from the Ghaggar, Sutlej, Ravi, Beas, Siswan and Sarsa rivers, subject to strict compliance of certain conditions.
The conditions are:
1. All the conditions stipulated in the National Framework for Sediment Management will be strictly complied with by the state before proceeding further with the impugned tenders.
2. State of Punjab and its authorities will ensure compliance of the SSMG-2016 in case of extraction of sand.
3. State of Punjab and its authorities will proceed with the impugned auction notices only if they ensure the dredging/desilting/extraction of sand for non-commercial purposes.
4. The directions issued in the order of the southern zonal bench of the NGT (March 23, 2023 in OA No. 142/2022(SZ) in the matter of Sarvabhoum Bagali) except one of the directions which has been stayed by the Supreme Court will be duly complied by the state of Punjab and its authorities before proceeding with the auction notices.
The Supreme Court (SC) on April 2, 2026, came down heavily on the Uttar Pradesh Awas Evam Vikas Parishad for its lack of action to demolish illegal structures in Meerut’s Shastri Nagar Central Market as unauthorised commercial activities were taking place in residential areas.
The counsel appearing for the petitioner informed the SC that the Parishad has taken no action regarding the demolition of the unauthorised structures.
The apex court said the status report filed by the Parishad is an “absolute eyewash”. The authority mentioned that 860 properties have been identified as unauthorised. All the Parishad has done so far is remove one solitary unauthorised construction. All that the status report tries to convey is that steps have been taken to ensure that residential premises are not being used for commercial purposes, the SC observed.
It appears that many of the occupants have now started applying for conversion of the use of the property. However, the fact remains, as admitted by the Chairperson of the Parishad, that all these constructions are unauthorised.
The SC said the report mentioned that the housing board has no concern with the order passed by the Commissioner, Meerut Division, October 27, 2025 — whereby it was directed that no further demolition of shops be carried out in the Central Market area and the shops would be granted “market street” status through a proposed amendment to the Master Plan.
The bench of Justice J B Pardiwala and Justice K V Viswanathan said it was very disturbed by the order passed by the Commissioner, Meerut Division.
The SC said one last opportunity would be given to the Parishad to file a comprehensive and detailed affidavit highlighting what has been done so far, including a concrete action plan detailing how they propose to proceed and by what period of time he would ensure that each and every unauthorised construction is demolished.
The affidavit should address whether the sanctioned plan was in accordance with the law and whether the buildings were in accordance with the sanctioned plan. The SC also asked for specific details regarding how many structures are in accordance with the sanctioned plan.
The Kerala High Court (HC), April 1, 2026, comprising Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Syam Kumar directed the Election Commission of India and the Chief Electoral Officer, Kerala to look into the grievance regarding the regulation of PVC flex and other non-recyclable plastic advertisement materials ahead of the assembly elections to be held in the state in April.
The Election Commission and the Chief Electoral Officer submitted that steps have already been taken regarding violations of the Model Code of Conduct related to the use, printing, storage and sale of PVC flex, polyester, nylon, Korean cloth and plastic-coated materials for advertisement campaigns in Kerala.
Considering the submissions made by the authorities, the HC disposed of the Public Interest Litigation.