SC upholds NGT order that landlord cannot be held liable for environmental violations by tenant

Supreme Court of India. File | Photo credit: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar

The Supreme Court on Monday (June 8, 2026) upheld an order by the National Green Tribunal, which ruled that a landlord cannot be held liable for environmental violations allegedly committed by its tenant’s chemical unit.

A bench of Justices Satish Chandra Sharma and Sanjeev Sachdeva declined to interfere with the tribunal’s November 14, 2025 order.

The Supreme Court was hearing a plea filed by the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) challenging an order passed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) quashing its order holding a landlord in Surat liable for environmental violations allegedly committed by its tenant’s chemical unit.

The NGT ruled that the owner of Jagmohan Lachiram Jalan cannot be made to pay interim environmental damages of ₹25,000 for the offenses committed by the industrial unit operating in his leased premises.

This case was initiated after the GPCB issued a closure order on 16 October 202 against a company involved in dye intermediate operations without complying with the mandatory consent to form the order.

The inspection team found that the unit’s effluent samples exceeded permissible limits, prompting the pollution authority to impose a fine of ₹25,000.

Mr Jalan argued that he leased the premises in 2020 under a contract to the directors of a private company and did not know it was an unlicensed unit.

He filed a police complaint against the tenant and approached the Gujarat High Court, which directed the Pollution Control Board to reconsider the representation.

In 2024, the GPCB upheld the punishment.

Published – 08 Jun 2026 14:25 IST