New Delhi, Feb. 25 -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday ended its five-year monitoring of contamination of rivers due to sewage effluents through a suo motu proceeding, and directed all statutory authorities, states, and the Centre to continue filing status reports before the National Green Tribunal (NGT), where similar proceedings are already pending.

A bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant said specialised tribunals such as the NGT were created to deal with such matters. Taking exception to the January 13, 2021 order of the top court taking suo motu cognisance of the issue, the bench, also comprising justice Joymalya Bagchi, said, "It seems to us that instead of initiating suo motu proceedings, this court ought to have asked ...