India, May 9 -- The Supreme Court on Thursday issued contempt notices to chief secretaries of Delhi and states in the National Capital Region (NCR) over large number of vacancies in pollution control boards.

Directing the Delhi chief secretary to appear in person on May 19, the court noted the "sorry state of affairs" in the Delhi pollution control committee (DPCC) that was virtually defunct with 55% vacancies.

The court order came in a public interest litigation filed by lawyer-activist MC Mehta in which a direction was issued on August 27, 2024 setting a deadline of April 30, 2025, for filling up all vacant posts in their Delhi-NCR pollution control boards in order to strengthen the statutory mechanism to fight pollution in the Capita...