India, March 21 -- The Supreme Court has stayed a National Green Tribunal (NGT) order imposing a hefty fine of Rs.2.6 crore on a Nagar Panchayat in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad district for failing to protect local water bodies from encroachment and pollution.

A bench headed by justice Abhay S Oka also halted the tribunal's directive for the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) to initiate criminal proceedings against the Farid Nagar Panchayat for failing to set up a sewage treatment plant (STP) to clean garbage and toxic waste from village ponds.

The order, passed on March 17 but made public now, ensured that the objective of the NGT order is achieved by directing the panchayat to engage the National Environmental Engineering Res...