Paradip, Nov. 14: A court in Jagatsinghpur has sentenced the proprietor of a clinic-cum-nursing home to two-years’ imprisonment for violating laws related to bio-medical waste management.

Sub-divisional judicial magistrate of Jagatsinghpur Sanjeev Kumar Samanta convicted Anjan Kumar Das, proprietor of Cure Well Clinic and Nursing Home in the district headquarters town and sentenced him to two-years’ prison term.

The convict was also directed to pay Rs 50,000 penalty for infringement of bio-medical waste rules.

The court pronounced the verdict for contravention of Section 15 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, and violation of the Bio-Medical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 1998, said counsel of the Odisha State Pollution Control Board Deb Kishore Kar.

This is the first court verdict on bio-medical waste rules violation in the state.

As many as 20 health institutes, including some government medical college hospitals, are facing the charge of violation of bio-medical waste management rules in the state.

“The cases are under various stages of trial in various courts,” said senior law officer of the pollution control board Bhagbat Prasad Pattajoshi.