Sikkim: The High Court of Sikkim has disposed of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) concerning the unauthorised release of effluents and extraction of groundwater by pharmaceutical companies, while directing the State Government to conduct periodic inspections of the companies and finalise the Sikkim Springs and Groundwater (Regulation and Management) Bill, 2025.
The Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Biswanath Somadder and Justice Meenakshi Madan Rai was hearing WP (PIL) No. 12 of 2017, filed to address the discharge of industrial waste into natural water bodies by pharma units, originally focusing on Singtam and later extended to cover the entire state.
“This Public Interest Litigation is pending before this Court since the year 2017… pharma companies situated in other parts of the State of Sikkim… were also extracting ground water – which is precious in Sikkim – even though surface water is available in abundance in this small Himalayan State,” the bench observed.
The court acknowledged the inspection report submitted by the Sikkim State Pollution Control Board, which stated that no effluent discharge was observed during the inspection of the 44 pharmaceutical units, out of which four were found shut down.
“…the learned Amicus and the officials of Sikkim State Pollution Control Board did not observe any effluents being discharged into the main rivers/streams/kholas within the State of Sikkim.”
The bench also noted that the final draft of the Sikkim Springs and Groundwater (Regulation and Management) Bill, 2025 has been submitted. It directed the learned Amicus Curiae to conduct a final review of the draft and suggested, without mandating, that the State may consider including a Central Ground Water Authority representative in the proposed regulatory body.
“We make it clear that the final say in this matter rests squarely with the State Government.”
Further, the court instructed the State Government to continue monitoring pharma units even after the closure of the PIL:
“The competent authority of the State Government shall carry out periodic inspection of all companies including the existing pharma companies within the State of Sikkim in order to find out whether they are still actually discharging effluents or not.”
Additionally, the Court ordered Rs 10,000 to be paid by each existing pharma company in the state to the Amicus Curiae, acknowledging their assistance in the matter.
The PIL was formally disposed of with liberty to apply in future, if necessary:
“With the above observations, the instant Public Interest Litigation… stands disposed of with liberty to the parties to apply in case of any difficulty which may arise in future…”
