India, Nov. 27 -- The Bombay High Court on Thursday sharply criticised the Maharashtra government for attributing Mumbai's deteriorating air quality to the volcanic eruption in Ethiopia, observing that the city's air quality index (AQI) had been poor long before the eruption.

A bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad was hearing a batch of petitions-including a suo motu PIL from 2023-on the alarming rise in air pollution across Mumbai.

Senior counsel Darius Khambata, acting as amicus curiae, informed the court that the city's AQI had remained above 300 throughout the month, indicating consistently "very poor" air quality.

However, additional government pleader Jyoti Chavan argued that the pollution spike w...