LUCKNOW, Feb. 22 -- The Supreme Court has stayed a Rs 59.99 crore Environmental Compensation fine imposed by the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) on the Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC), which had already ramped up its waste processing capacity to 2,100 TPD at its Shivri Solid Waste Management Plant. A division bench of Justices Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha and Alok Aradhe passed the order on Friday. The UPPCB had imposed the fine on April 2, 2025, citing alleged non-compliance with the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016. The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court had earlier rejected the LMC's petition challenging the UPPCB order on August 21, 2025, prompting the civic body to approach the Supreme Court. Advocate Priyanka Swami represented the LMC before the apex court. The LMC argued that the primary default was attributable to a private company whose contract had since been terminated and which had been blacklisted. As a stopgap, the LMC awarded a short-term tender to another company for fresh waste processing with a target capacity of 2,000 TPD, though space constraints limited it to 1,250 TPD. The LMC then prioritised clearing legacy waste, finalising a tender for legacy waste processing with a plant capacity of 4,000 TPD, with operations commencing in March 2024. A fresh waste processing tender was floated subsequently, though its execution was delayed. Through its selected concessionaire M/s Bhumi Green Energy, the LMC has since established a phased fresh waste processing system....