AN ASSIGNMENT ON

NATIONAL
GREEN
TRIBUNAL

COMPILED BY - SUPERVISED BY-

HARSH RAJ MISS NIRMALA
19571 ENVIRONMENTAL
Bsc C.S. 1st year SCIENCE

SHAHEED SUKHDEV COLLEGE

OF BUSINESS STUDIES
INTRODUCTION-:
In the aftermath of various environmental disasters and cases, there was
a need to step up a mechanism for Environmental Justice. The Bhopal
gas disaster in 1984, had led the Supreme Court to emphasize on the
need for constitution of environmental courts. In Charan Lal Sahu v.
Union of India. the court opined that “under the existing civil law
damages are determined by the civil Courts, after a long drawn litigation,
which destroys the very purpose of awarding damages so in order to
meet the situation, to avoid delay and to ensure immediate relief to the
victims, the law should provide for constitution of tribunals regulated by
special procedure for determining compensation to victims of industrial
disaster or accident, appeal against which may lie to this Court on the
limited ground of questions of law only after depositing the amount
determined by the Tribunal.” The Supreme Court of India at various
instances also has opined that as environment cases involve
assessment of scientific data it would be desirable to have the setting up
of “environmental courts on a regional basis with a professional judge
and two experts keeping in view the expertise required for such
adjudication. Again in the judgment of Indian Council for Enviro- Legal
Action v. Union of India, the Supreme Court observed that
Environmental Courts having civil and criminal jurisdiction must be
established to deal with the environmental issues in a speedy manner.

The Parliament of India enacted two specific laws- the National

Environment Tribunal Act, 1995 for adjudicating on claims and
compensation for victims of environmental disasters and the National
Environment Appellate Authority Act, 1997. The National Environment
Tribunal never came into functioning while the National Environment
Appellate Authority (herein referred as NEAA) functioned with full
composition only for 3 years4. The NEAA had a very limited mandate
and served as an appellate body against the decision of the Ministry of
Environment and Forest granting environment clearance to a project.
These two tribunals were non functional and existed only on paper. This
issue was also considered by the Law Commission of India and dealt at
length in its 186th Report. Law Commission was guided by the model of
environmental court established in New Zealand and the Land and
Environmental Court of New South Wales and also the observations of
the Supreme Court in four judgments to give effect to these exhortations
contained in the global declarations on environment and to provide for a
specialized forum for effective and expeditious disposal of cases arising
out of enforcement of environmental laws in the country, the Indian
Parliament has enacted, the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 which
has come into force on 2 June 2010.
WHAT IS NATIONAL GREEN
TRIBUNAL ?
In simple words it is an act to provide for the establishment of a National
Green Tribunal for the effective and expeditious disposal of cases
relating to environmental protection and conservation of forests and
other natural resources including enforcement of any legal right relating
to environment and giving relief and compensation for damages to
persons and property and for matters connected therewith or incidental
thereto.

The Tribunal's dedicated jurisdiction in environmental matters shall

provide speedy environmental justice and help reduce the burden of
litigation in the higher courts. The tribunal shall not be bound by the
procedure laid down under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, but shall
be guided by principles of natural justice. The tribunal is mandated to
make and endeavour for disposal of applications or appeals finally within
6 months of filing of the same. Initially, the NGT is proposed to be set up
at five places of sittings and will follow circuit procedure for making itself
more accessible; New Delhi is the Principal Place of Sitting of the
Tribunal and Bhopal, Pune, Kolkata and Chennai shall be the other
place of sitting of the Tribunal.

.
 It is a specialised body set up under the National Green Tribunal
Act (2010) for effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to
environmental protection and conservation of forests and other natural
resources.

 With the establishment of the NGT, India became the third country
in the world to set up a specialised environmental tribunal, only after
Australia and New Zealand, and the first developing country to do so.

 NGT is mandated to make disposal of applications or appeals

finally within 6 months of filing of the same.

 The NGT has five places of sittings, New Delhi is the Principal
place of sitting and Bhopal, Pune, Kolkata and Chennai are the other
four

WHAT MADE THIS BODY A REALITY ?

During the summit of United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development in June 1992, India vowed the participating states to
provide judicial and administrative remedies to the victims of the
pollutants and other environmental damage.

There lie many reasons behind the setting up of this tribunal. After
India's move with Carbon credits, such tribunal may play a vital role in
ensuring the control of emissions and maintaining the desired levels.
This is the first body of its kind that is required by its parent statute to
apply the "polluter pays" principle and the principle of sustainable
development.

This court can rightly be called ‘special’ because India is the third
country following Australia and New Zealand to have such a
 system. Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) works under the act
of (NGT).

STRUCTURE-
The Principal Bench of the NGT is in New Delhi. It has regional benches
in Pune (West), Bhopal (Central), Chennai (South) and Kolkata (East).
Each Bench has a specified geographical jurisdiction in a region.
Further, mechanism for circuit benches are also available. For example,
the Southern Zone bench, which is based in Chennai, can decide to
have sittings in other places like Bangalore or Hyderabad.

The Chairperson of the NGT is a retired Judge of the Supreme Court,

head quartered in New Delhi. On 18 October 2010, Justice Lokeshwar
Singh Panta became its first Chairman. Retired justice Adarsh Kumar
Goel is the incumbent chairman. Other Judicial members are retired
Judges of High Courts. Each bench of the NGT will comprise at least
one Judicial Member and one Expert Member. Expert members should
have a professional qualification and a minimum of 15 years experience
in the field of environment/forest conservation and related subjects.

CONCLUSION FOR STRUCTURE-

 The Tribunal comprises of the Chairperson, the Judicial Members and
Expert Members. They shall hold office for term of five years and are not
eligible for reappointment.

 The Chairperson is appointed by the Central Government in

consultation with Chief Justice of India (CJI).
 A Selection Committee shall be formed by central government to
appoint the Judicial Members and Expert Members.

 There are to be least 10 and maximum 20 full time Judicial members

and Expert Members in the tribunal.

ESTABLISHMENT AND COMPOSITION OF

NATIONAL GREEN TRIBUNAL

The Act empowers the Central Government to establish, by notification

with effect from such date as may be specified therein, the Green
Tribunal to exercise jurisdiction, powers and authority that may be
conferred on such Tribunal by or under this Act.The Central Government
is empowered to specify, by notification, the ordinary place or places of
sitting of the sitting. The NGT comprises a chairperson, judicial officers
and environmental expert members which will hear the cases regarding
infringement of environmental protection and rights around in the country
and have the powers to decide and disperse compensations. The
Tribunal shall consist of not less than ten but subject to maximum of
twenty full- time expert members as the Central Government may notify
from time to time. The chairperson has been authorized to invite one or
more expert members to assist the court in a particular case before the
Tribunal. The Act stipulates that a person shall not be qualified for
appointment as the Chairperson or judicial member of the Tribunal
unless he is, or has been, a judge of the Supreme Court of India or Chief
Justice of a High Court. However, a person who is or has been a judge
of a High Court can be appointed as a judicial member. The Act states
that the Chairperson of the Tribunal may be appointed by the Central
Government in consultation with the Chief Justice of India. The other
members shall be appointed by the Central Government on the
recommendation of such Selection Committee as may be prescribed.
Initially, the NGT is proposed to be set up in five places- Delhi, Bhopal,
Pune, Kolkata and Chennai. It is been criticized that the institutional
structure is framed in such a way that the qualifications for a technical
member are more favourable to bureaucrats. The act considers higher
degrees in Science, Technology and Administrative experience but no
provision for ecologist, sociologist, environmentalist, civil society or NGO
etc.

POWERS & JURISDICTION-

The NGT shall hear the disputes arising from the enforcement of any
legal right relating to environment and shall also include violation of
specific statutory environmental obligations by an individual firm,
company, local authority etc. The jurisdiction to hear a case involving
environmental matters is wider than the one conferred on the National
Environmental Appellate Authority which has now been replacing by the
new Act. The Act confers on the Green Tribunal to hear initial complaints
as well as appeals from decisions of authorities under various
environmental laws. The NGT will also function as appellate authority to
persons aggrieved by any order or decision made under the following
Acts:

1. Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974

2. Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Cess Act, 1977
3. Forest (Conservation) Act 1980
 4. Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981
5. Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and
6. Biological Diversity Act 2002

 The Tribunal has jurisdiction over all civil cases involving substantial
question relating to environment (including enforcement of any legal
right relating to environment).
 Being a statutory adjudicatory body like Courts, apart from original
jurisdiction side on filing of an application, NGT also has appellate
jurisdiction to hear appeal as a Court (Tribunal).
 The Tribunal is not bound by the procedure laid down under the Code
of Civil Procedure 1908, but shall be guided by principles of 'natural
justice'.
 While passing any order/decision/ award, it shall apply the principles
of sustainable development, the precautionary principle and the
polluter pays principle.
 NGT by an order, can provide
o relief and compensation to the victims of pollution and other
environmental damage (including accident occurring while
handling any hazardous substance),
o for restitution of property damaged, and
o for restitution of the environment for such area or areas, as the
Tribunal may think fit.
 An order/decision/award of Tribunal is executable as a decree of a
civil court.
 The NGT Act also provides a procedure for a penalty for non
compliance:
 o Imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years,
o Fine which may extend to ten crore rupees, and
o Both fine and imprisonment.
 An appeal against order/decision/ award of the NGT lies to the
Supreme Court, generally within ninety days from the date of
communication.
 Any violation pertaining to these laws or any decision taken by the
Government under these laws can be challenged before the NGT.

JUDICIAL REMEDIES-:
The Act envisages various reliefs. It says that the Tribunal may, by an
order, provide relief and compensation to the victims of pollution and
other environmental damage arising under the enactments specified in
the Schedule-I to the Act, including accident occurring while handling
any hazardous substance. It may also order the restitution of the
property damaged and the restitution of the environment for that areas
as the Tribunal may think fit. The relief under this Act is an addition to
the relief given under the Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991. The Act
seeks to discourage delayed applications for relief. If stipulates that no
application for the above mentioned categories of relief would be
entertained by the Tribunal unless it is made within a period of five years
from the date on which the cause for such relief first arose. However, the
Tribunal may allow further sixty days for the application to be filed if it is
satisfied that the applicant was prevented by sufficient cause from filing
such application. The Act obligates the claimants under the Act to
intimate to the Tribunal about the application filed to, or as the case may
be, compensation or relief received from, any other court or authority.
The Act provides for an expeditious relief and obligates the Tribunal to
endeavour to dispose of the application or, the case may be, an appeal
finally within six months from the date of filing the application, or, as the
case may be, the appeal, after providing the parties an opportunity to be
heard.

The Act provides that an application for grant of relief or compensation

or settlement of dispute may be made to the Tribunal by —(a) any
person who has sustained the injury; or (b) the owner of the property to
which the damage has been caused or (c) all or any of the legal
representatives of the deceased where death has resulted from the
environmental damage or (d) any agent duly authorized by such person
or owner of such property or all or any of the legal representatives of the
deceased, as the case may be; or (e) any person aggrieved ; including
any representative body or organization. In addition, the Central
Government or a State Government, or a Union Territory administration
or the Central Pollution Control Board or a State Pollution Control Board
or a Pollution Control Committee or a local Authority or any
environmental authority constituted or established under the
Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 or any other law for the time in force,
can also move the Tribunal.

PENALITY-
This Act bestows ample power on the Green Tribunal if its orders are not
complied with; to impose penalty which may be either three years prison
or up to ten crores and for companies it may extend up to twenty five
crores. The act adopts a tough posture against companies. If it is proved
that the offence has been committed with the consent or connivance of,
or is attributable to any neglect on the part of any director, manager,
secretary or other officer of the company, such director, manager,
secretary or other officers shall also be deemed to be guilty of that
offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished
accordingly.

This is a commendable inclusion in the bill and at least it will instill sense
of fear among higher officials of company to pay due attention to
environmental performance of their company. But the accused can take
defense that he did not have the knowledge or he has taken all the due
care to prevent the commission of the offence. Hence, this strong
inclusion is diluted.

STRENGTHS-:
 Over the years NGT has emerged as a critical player in
environmental regulation, passing strict orders on issues ranging from
pollution to deforestation to waste management.

 NGT offers a path for the evolution of environmental jurisprudence by

setting up an alternative dispute resolution mechanism.

 It helps reduce the burden of litigation in the higher courts on

environmental matters.

 NGT is less formal, less expensive, and a faster way of resolving

environment related disputes.

 It plays a crucial role in curbing environment-damaging activities.

 The Chairperson and members are not eligible for reappointment,

hence they are likely to deliver judgements independently, without
succumbing to pressure from any quarter.
  The NGT has been instrumental in ensuring that the Environment
Impact Assessment process is strictly observed.

Challenges-:
 Two important acts - Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and Scheduled
Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest
Rights) Act, 2006 have been kept out of NGT’s jurisdiction. This
restricts the jurisdiction area of NGT and at times hampers its
functioning as crucial forest rights issue is linked directly to
environment.

 The NGT decisions are being challenged in various High Courts

under Article 226 (power of High Courts to issue certain writs) with
many asserting the superiority of a High Court over the NGT, claiming
‘High Court is a constitutional body while NGT is a statutory body’.”
This is one of the weaknesses of the Act as there is lack of clarity
about what kind of decisions can be challenged; even though
according to the NGT Act, its decision can be challenged before the
Supreme Court.

 Decisions of NGT have also been criticised and challenged due to

their repercussions on economic growth and development.

 The absence of a formula based mechanism in determining the

compensation has also brought criticism to the tribunal.
 The decisions given by NGT are not fully complied by the
stakeholders or the government. Sometimes its decisions are pointed
out not to be feasible to implement within a given timeframe.

 The lack of human and financial resources has led to high

pendency of cases - which undermines NGT’s very objective of
disposal of appeals within 6 months.

 The justice delivery mechanism is also hindered by limited number

of regional benches.

Important Landmark Judgements of NGT

 In 2012, POSCO a steelmaker company signed a MoU with the
Odisha government to set up steel project. NGT suspended order
and this was considered a radical step in favour of the local
communities and forests.

 In 2012 Almitra H. Patel vs. Union of India case, NGT gave

judgment of complete prohibition on open burning of waste on lands,
including landfills – regarded as the single biggest landmark case
dealing with the issue of solid waste management in India.

 In 2013 in Uttarakhand floods case, the Alaknanda Hydro Power Co.

Ltd. was ordered to compensate to the petitioner – here, the NGT
directly relied on the principle of ‘polluter pays’.

 In 2015, the NGT ordered that all diesel vehicles over 10 years old
will not be permitted to ply in Delhi-NCR.

 In 2017, the Art of Living Festival on Yamuna Food Plain was

declared violating the environmental norms, the NGT panel imposed
a penalty of Rs. 5 Crore.
  The NGT, in 2017, imposed an interim ban on plastic bags of less
than 50-micron thickness in Delhi because “they were causing
animal deaths, clogging sewers and harming the environment”.

CONCLUSION-:
The Act is considered a critical step in capacity development because
the Act strengthens the framework of global environmental governance.
The judiciary has been the backbone for developing a large body of
environmental jurisprudence, even though policy enforcement has been
weak. A National Environment Protection Authority is also to be
established shortly to monitor the implementation of environment laws.

Coming to dark side of the Act, the rules relating to constitution and
composition of selection committee tilts the balance of power in favor of
Central Government. Keeping in view the repeal of the National
Environment Tribunal Act, 1995 and the National Environment Appellate
Authority Act, 1997 by the present Act, it is submitted that legislation
should become operational in letter and spirit to provide much needed
relief against offences/complaints for degradation of environment. It is
further suggested that in order to achieve more fruitful result the
environment court should be established in each state however, in case
of smaller States and Union Territories, one court for more than one
State or Union Territory may serve the purpose.
It is not uncommon for a statute to take a few years before it grows into
a strong and extensive statute. It is only through interpretations and
implementation over the years that the strength and shortcomings
become clear. The National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 is in a nascent
stage now and it is only with time that its practicality and efficiency will
be exposed.

HARSH RAJ
19571
Bsc C.S.