The Supreme Court on Wednesday came down heavily on the Haryana and Punjab governments for failing to prosecute those found guilty of stubble burning. The court has summoned the chief secretaries of both states to appear before it on October 23 to provide an explanation.

A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka, Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Augustine George Masih ordered the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to take penal action against Haryana and Punjab government officials for failing to take action against those who violated the rules.

"This is not a political matter. If chief secretary is acting at somebody's behest, we will issue summons against them as well. Next Wednesday we are going to physically call chief secretary and explain everything. Nothing has been done, the same is with the Punjab government. The attitude is of complete defiance," the bench said.

The court also criticised the Punjab government noting that not even a single prosecution has been carried out in the past three years.

ALSO READ: 'What Could Be Better': Uttarakhand Madarsa Board Chairman Hails Decision To Teach Sanskrit In Madarsas

It stated that the Punjab government has made no efforts to request funding from the Centre to provide tractors to farmers.

The apex court also stated that CAQM became a toothless tiger.

The apex court had earlier rapped CAQM over its failure to curb air pollution in Delhi due to crop residue burning in the neighbouring states and said it needs to be more active in its approach.

Delhi on Wednesday recorded an AQI of 218, which comes under poor category. As winter approaches, the AQI of the national capital witnessed a massive rise every year due to the stubble burning in the nearby states including Punjab and Haryana.