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M/s Harsh International & Anr. v. Union of India & Ors.

Writ Petition (Civil) · Neutral citation not assigned (Writ Petition (Civil) No. 856 of 2013)Decided 18 Jul 2016
Writ Petition (Civil) No. 856 of 2013
Justice Kurian Joseph · Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman

Background

The petitioner, a 100% export-oriented unit in the Noida Special Economic Zone, manufactured a tobacco product ("filter Khaini") packaged in plastic for export only. It sought a direction that the exemption for export-only plastic packaging under the Plastic Wastes (Management & Handling) Rules, 2011 should apply to it as well, or that the restrictive rules be read down, so that it would not be barred from using plastic packaging for its exports.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court noted that an identical issue had already been decided in the petitioner's favour in a connected writ petition (W.P.(C) No. 471/2015), which itself followed an earlier 2013 order of the Court in Baba Global Ltd. vs. Union of India permitting use of plastic bags for export purposes, subject to the manufacturer filing an undertaking. Since the petitioners here had already filed a similar undertaking, the Court allowed the writ petition on the same terms as the Baba Global Ltd. order, exempting them from the Plastic Wastes Rules subject to compliance with that undertaking.

Lesson Learnt

Where a court has already settled a regulatory question for one party on specific facts (here, an export-only exemption conditioned on a formal undertaking), another similarly-placed party facing the identical restriction can get the same relief by filing the same undertaking, without needing fresh, lengthy litigation on the merits.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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