The levies supermarkets charge customers for polythene bags are being credited directly to the supermarkets’ own accounts and are not serving the environmental purpose they were intended for, the Supreme Court was told on Tuesday.
Senior Counsel Ravindranath Dabare, appearing for the Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ), made the submission as the organisation moved the court for an order directing the authorities to set up a government-administered levy on single-use plastic and polythene bags, the Daily Mirror reported.
The Attorney General told the court that the respondents are already in the process of formulating such a mechanism.
A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Preethi Padman Surasena and Justices Achala Wengappuli and Gihan Kulatunga directed the respondents to report back on the progress of that work on 5 March 2027.
What CEJ is asking for
The petitioners want the court to order the relevant authorities to establish and implement a government-administered levy on single-use plastic and polythene bags without delay.
They further ask that the revenue collected be credited to a designated public fund used exclusively for environmental protection, waste management and recycling, and for implementing the internationally recognised “polluter pays” principle.
The hearing was fixed six months ago
This is the hearing the Supreme Court scheduled back in May, when it set 3 November as the date to take the petition up for confirmation of facts.
The case rests on a 2020 Supreme Court order, also obtained by CEJ, which banned retailers from handing out shopping bags free and required that any bag given to a customer carry a price based on its size — the origin of the Rs. 3 and Rs. 5 charges in use today. CEJ’s contention is that the money raised by those charges is being retained by private operators instead of being paid into the statutory environmental conservation fund, contrary to the Environmental Conservation Tax Act.
Respondents named when the petition was filed include the Minister of Environment, the Central Environmental Authority and the Consumer Affairs Authority, alongside the Finance Minister.
One change since May
The composition of the bench has shifted. When the November date was fixed in May, the third judge sitting with Chief Justice Surasena and Justice Wengappuli was Justice Sampath Wijeratne; on Tuesday the seat was occupied by Justice Gihan Kulatunga. No reason for the change was reported.
Not reported
The filing does not say how much revenue the bag charges generate annually, whether any supermarket operator was heard or represented at the hearing, what form the government-administered mechanism under preparation will take, or whether it will apply retrospectively to levies already collected.