The bench of Chief Justice SA Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan observed that the petitioner had approached it in advance, without any cause of action, even as the green panel and the government were issuing and implementing guidelines from time to time. When the petitioner pointed out that the guidelines were not followed last year, the court said the petitioner should have approached it then instead of waiting until the eleventh hour.

"We cannot issue directions based on apprehensions. As of today, there is no cause of action to entertain this petition. It is all in advance," the court orally remarked.

The court dismissed the plea as withdrawn, granting liberty to the petitioner to approach the appropriate forum.

Dr R Karpagam, a social activist and founder of the Coimbatore-based Oli Awareness Movement, filed the PIL. In the plea, he submitted that the case did not concern any religion, denomination, or place of worship, but only sought effective and uniform enforcement of statutory provisions, government orders, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) guidelines, and judicial directions on environmental protection, noise control, and idol immersion.

The petitioner warned that non-compliance would lead to recurring concerns over water and noise pollution, accumulation of non-biodegradable waste, public safety, and traffic regulation.

The petitioner called upon the State government to place on record details of inspections, violations detected, enforcement action taken, artificial immersion facilities created, noise-level measurements, and water-quality assessments.

The petitioner alleged that the State had failed to discharge its constitutional and public trust obligations by permitting the continued immersion of polluting idols and the resultant contamination of waterbodies.