Meghalaya, November 19, 2025

A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih observed that permitting children to play outdoors during November and December — when Delhi’s Air Quality Index routinely crosses the “severe-plus” category — was nothing short of exposing them to a gas chamber.

“Allowing schoolchildren to undertake sports activities in the present pollution levels amounts to putting them in a gas chamber,” the bench remarked orally while hearing a 1985 PIL on Delhi’s air pollution.

The court asked CAQM to ensure that schools reschedule all outdoor sports, PT periods, and related events to periods when air quality is comparatively better (typically post-monsoon months from February/March to September/October) and directed the commission to circulate the advisory within one week.

The sharp observations came on a day when Delhi’s 24-hour average AQI stood at 368 (“very poor” verging on “severe”), with several monitoring stations recording readings above 420. Stubble burning in neighbouring states, coupled with low wind speed and vehicular emissions, has pushed pollution to dangerous levels for the past three weeks.
The court also pulled up authorities for the delayed implementation of GRAP-IV measures and questioned why emergency steps such as work-from-home directives and odd-even vehicle schemes were not being enforced more stringently.

The matter is posted for further hearing next week.