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Powers and functions of National Green Tribunal

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September15,2015

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IPLEADERS LAW ENGINE

This article is written by Apoorv Singh Chauhan, B.A. LL.B (Hons.) student at
NALSARUniversityofLaw,Hyderabad
The Constitution of India through its directive principles of state policy (DPSP)
mentionsthatitisthedutyofthestatetoprotectandimprovetheenvironmentandto
safeguardtheforestsandwildlifeofthecountryandbestowuponthecitizenstheduty
toprotecttheenvironment.InrealitytheimplementationofDPSPsimmediatelyafter
independence was a difficult task for government as there were many other problems
that were given priority over the environment. To overcome the basic problems of
poverty, illiteracy, unemployment and to provide basic health care facilities,
environment issues were not given that much importance. In order to increase the
production in the economy more and more industries were set up. This has led to
degradationofenvironmentatalargescaleinIndiaandthepriorityinthelastdecade
hadgraduallyshiftedtoprotectionofenvironment.

Origin of the idea of establishing environmental courts in India

The Supreme Court of India suggested that there should be environmental courts on
regional basis with professional judges and 2 experts keeping in mind the kind of
expertise needed to deal with such issues.[1] This was emphasized by the Supreme
Courtastherewasaneedforspeedyjusticeforenvironmentalprotectionandtoreduce
the burden on the High courts which were not able to do quick disposal of cases
involvingenvironmentalissuesastheywereoverburdenedbycases.Asaresultofthis
direneedforspeedyjusticeTheNationalGreenTribunal(NGT)wasfoundedon18th
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October, 2010 under the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010. It is a statutory tribunal
which was enacted by the parliament specially for hearing the matters concerning to
environmental issues. It was a result of long procedure and the demand for such
tribunal started long back in the year 1984 after the Bhopal gas tragedy. Then the
SupremeCourtspecificallymentionedtheneedforsuchtribunalsinthecasewherethe
gasleakedfromShriramfoodandfertilizerslimitedinDelhi.TheSupremeCourtthan
in a number of cases highlighted the difficulty faced by judges in adjudicating on
complex environmental cases and laid emphasis on the need to set up a specialized
environmentalcourt.ThoughthecreditforenactingtheNGTAct,2010goestothethen
Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh, it became functional only because of repeated
directionsoftheSupremeCourtwhilehearingtheSpecialLeavePetitiontitledUnionof
India v. Vimal Bhai[2]. The legislate Act of Parliament defines the National Green
Tribunal Act, 2010 as 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
therewithorincidentalthereto

Composition of NGT
Thetribunalshallconsistofminimumof10membersandnotmorethan20members.
This will be in accordance with the notification given by the central government. The
memberswillbeamixofjudgesandexpertmembersonenvironmentalissues.Incase
ofanydeadlocki.e.thetiebetweennumberofjudgesagainstandinfavorofadecision
theauthoritywillremaininthehandsofchairpersontodecidethecaseandbreakthe
deadlock.Everybenchoftribunalmustconsistofatleastoneexpertmemberandone
judicialmember
Thequalificationrequiredbythepersontobecomeachairpersonisthatheshouldhave
beenaSupremeCourtjudgeorchiefjusticeofaHighCourtandtobecomeeligiblefor
becomingajudicialmemberofthetribunalthepersonshouldhavebeenajudgeofthe
Highcourt.Tobequalifiedasanexpertmemberofthetribunalapersonshallpossessa
degreeofmasterofscienceswhetherphysicalsciencesorlifescienceswithadoctorate
degree or masters of technology or masters of engineering having fifteen years of
experience in that field with a five year experience in fields of environment and
forests[3].

Structure
Goingbytheenactmentofthenationalgreentribunalact,NewDelhihasbeenchosen
as the principal bench of the NGT, with regional benches in Pune (Western Zone
Bench),Bhopal(CentralZoneBench),Chennai(SouthernBench)andKolkata(Eastern
Bench).EachBenchhasaspecifiedgeographicaljurisdictioncoveringseveralStatesin
aregion.Thereisalsoamechanismforcircuitbenches.Forexample,theCentralZone
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bench,whichisbasedinBhopal,candecidetohavesittingsinotherplaceslikeGwalior
orJaipur.Specifyingjurisdictionofeachbench.

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Powers of NGT
The NGT has a power to hear all civil matters which are related to environment and
questionsregardingtheenforcementandimplementationoflawswhichfallunderthe
sevencategoriesoflawsnamely(inorderoftheirenactment)
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1.TheWater(PreventionandControlofPollution)Act,1974
2.TheWater(PreventionandControlofPollution)CessAct,1977
3.TheForest(Conservation)Act,1980
4.TheAir(PreventionandControlofPollution)Act,1981
5.TheEnvironment(Protection)Act,1986
6.ThePublicLiabilityInsuranceAct,1991
7.TheBiologicalDiversityAct,2002

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PowersandfunctionsofNationalGreenTribunaliPleaders

TheNGThasbeengiventhepowertoregulatetheprocedurebyitself.Itdoesnotfollow
theprinciplesofcivilprocedurecodeinsteaditfollowsprinciplesofnaturaljustice[4].
The NGT also at the time of giving orders shall apply the principals of sustainable
developmentandalsotheprincipalthattheonewhopollutesshallpay.Itwillhavethe
samepowerasofthecivilcourtindecidingthematterfallingwithinthesesevenlegal
acts[5].EventheNGTwillnotbeboundbytherulesofevidenceasmentionedinthe
Indianevidenceact.[6]AnythingwhichisnotcoveredunderthesesevenactstheNGT
is not competent to admit the suit for that matter. The major drawback of this
limitationisthatapersoncannotapproachtheNGTforeveryenvironmentalissue.For
instanceNGTcannotadmitasuitforcuttingoftreesinaforesteventhoughitisrelated
to environment.[7] This is because the protection of forest act is not within the
jurisdictionofNGT.Soinawayitisambiguousforacommonpersontocomprehend
whentoandwhennottogotoNGTtoseekremedy.ThisisareformwhichNGTneeds
thatthereshouldbeinclusionofallactsrelatedtoenvironmentdegradation.
The major benefit with NGT is that it has a strong order enforcing mechanism. If the
ordersofNGTarenotcompliedwiththanithasthepowertoimposebothpunishment
aswellasfine.Thepunishmentisuptothreeyearsandthepenaltyisuptotencrore
andforfirmsincanextenduptotwentyfivecrores.Alsothedirectorormanagerofthe
firmcanbepunishedorpenalizedifitisfoundbythetribunalthattheoffencehasbeen
committedontheordersorwiththeconsentofsuchofficerofthefirm.
The act also provides various kinds of reliefs to the persons who are affected by the
degradation of environment as the inhabitant of that particular area. One of the
provisions of the act is to provide compensation to the victims of any loss occurring
from accident or leakage while handling hazardous substance. So this provision
basicallywilldealwithanylosswhichoccursduetoleakageofsomehazardousgasina
locality. This was necessary because earlier law was silent in this regard due to which
the people who suffered damages in the Bhopal Gas Tragedy could not get proper
compensationfromtheunioncarbide.
AnypersonwhohassustainedtheinjurycanfileasuitintheNationalGreenTribunal.
Thesuitcanalsobefiledbyapersonwhoistheownerofthepropertytowhichtheloss
is caused. In case there is a death as a consequence of damage then the legal
representative of such a person can file a case. The government or the government
agenciesrelatedtoenvironmentcanfileasuitinplaceofthatpersonlikethecentralor
the state government or the central pollution control board or state pollution control
board. The act also provides for fast delivery of justice and the act provides that all
possibleeffortswillbemadetodisposeofthecasewithinsixmonthsfromthedateof
filing the suit. The period for filing a suit with NGT is up to 5 years from the date on
whichthecauseforcompensationarose.Howeverifthetribunalhassufficientgrounds
forbelievingthatthepersonhasreasonablecausethatpreventedhimfromfilingasuit
inNGTthanitcanextendtheperiodforamaximumofsixtydays.Apersoncanargue
his own
matter before the tribunal and he does not need to be an advocate to do so.
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There is just a single requirement that the person should be in a formal dress while
addressing the court. The medium of communication in the NGT is English and the

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argumentsshouldbepresentedinthesame.
Ifapersonisnotsatisfiedwiththeordersofthetribunalhecanseekthereviewofthe
decisionofNGTunderrule22oftheNGTrule.Andeventhenifheisnotsatisfiedwith
thedecisionofthetribunalhecanfileanappealtotheSupremeCourtofIndia.Butthe
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appealhastobefiledwithinninetydaysoftheorderspassedbyNGT.

Criticism of NGT

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As soon as the NGT came into action after October 2010 it got stuck in number of
controversies.Thefirstcriticismitfacesisthatitlacksjudicialindependencefromthe
government. The rules of the NGT act allowed the bureaucrats to be appointed to the
tribunal while holding their post in the government. This is problematic in the sense
that a government official will never rule against the government because he is also a

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PowersandfunctionsofNationalGreenTribunaliPleaders

partofgovernmentandfacesvariouskindsofpressuretonottoruleagainstthecentral
government.
The concept of Tribunals is in itself problematic as they are funded by the parent
ministryandhenceitexercisescontroloverthetribunalanditsdecisions.Theneedfor
expertsinthetribunalisalsoproblematicconceptbecausetheNGThastodecidethe
question of law and does not have to do fact finding. The expert knowledge is not
neededingrantingcompensationorawardingpunishment.Forthisthereneedstobea
knowledge of law. The Indian evidence act provides specifically for the statement of
expertwitnessincaseswheresomespecialknowledgeisrequiredthanwhatistheneed
forappointingexpertsinthetribunalitself.[8]
The tribunal also faces a lack of resources for its proper functioning. The NGT was
operatingfromaguesthouseearlier.Alsothemembersofthetribunalwerenotgiven
houses and were living in government guest house. The funds were decreased further
without taking into consideration the fact that NGT is already suffering from lack of
adequate funding. The law commission report on the environmental courts suggested
that one such court should be established in every state. But the NGT has only 5
benches. This has created problem for common citizens asking for justice as it is
difficult to approach a court which is in different state and far from their home. The
establishmentofNGTalsotookawaytherightofcivilcourtstoadmitcasesregarding
environmentalissues.SoitisnowcompulsorytofilethecasebeforetheNGTinthese
cases.NowevenaPILcannotbefiledintheHighCourtofthestateforenvironmental
issues as all environmental litigation shall be dealt only by the five benches of NGT.
Thereisaneedforenvironmentaltribunalondistrictbasesbutpresentsystemisnot
evenprovidingitonstatebasis.
[1]186ThReportonProposaltoConstituteEnvironmentCourts.
[2]SLP(civil)No(s).12065/2009
[3]Section5,nationalgreentribunalact,2010
[4]Section18(2),nationalgreentribunalact,2010
[5]Citizenswelfareforumv.unionofIndia(1996)5SCC647
[6]Section19(3),nationalgreentribunalact,2010
[7] http://www.conservationindia.org/resources/ngt, last accessed 12/9/2015 at
AM10.30
[8]

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/oped/lawofthejungle/article5244600.ece,

lastaccessed12/9/2015atAM10.30

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2 COMMENTS
VarunChauhan
June9,2016at5:26pm

HiApoorv
YourarticlehassomeminorflawswhichIthinkshouldberectified.Like:
1.MaximumTimeforfilingsuitinNGTis6Monthsandnot5years.
2. Cutting of trees in forest is very well covered under The Forest Conservation
Act,1980andassuch,itisclearlyunderjurisdictionofNGT.
3. There is no bar on somebody to file an environment related case in HC. It
dependsontherespectiveHCwhetheritwilltransferittoNGTordealwithiton
itsown.
Reply

Hiranyambathla
April28,2016at10:34pm

IhavebeensearchingforcontentrelatedtoNGTbutcouldntfindit.Thanqyou
apoorvchauhanthisarticlereallyhelped.
Reply

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