ROLE OF NATIONAL GREEN TRIBUNAL

In partial fulfilment of B.A L.L.B. 5 years degree at

Army Institute of Law, Mohali

Submitted by -

Param Veer Chahal

1516
 INDEX

1. Introduction

2. National Green Tribunal Act, 2010

2.1. History

2.2. Establishment of Environmental Courts

2.3. Composition

2.4. Powers

2.5. Filing of Application

3. Role of NGT

3.1. Importance

3.2. Criticism

4. Conclusion
 INTRODUCTION

The Constitution of India through its Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP) mentions
that “it is the duty of the state to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the
forests and wildlife of the country and bestow upon the citizens, the duty to protect the
environment”. In reality, the implementation of DPSPs immediately after independence was a
difficult task for the 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 degradation of the environment on a large scale in India and the
priority in the last decade had gradually shifted to the protection of the environment.

As a result of this dire need for speedy justice, The National Green Tribunal (NGT) was
founded on 18th October 2010 under the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010. It is a statutory
tribunal which was enacted by the parliament especially for hearing the matters concerning to
environmental issues. It was a result of the long procedure and the demand for such tribunal
started long back in the year 1984 after the Bhopal gas tragedy. Then the Supreme Court
specifically mentioned the need for such tribunals in the case where the gas leaked from Shri
Ram food and fertilizers limited in Delhi. The Supreme Court then 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 environmental court. It became
functional only because of repeated directions of the Supreme Court while hearing the
Special Leave Petition titled the Union of India v. Vimal Bhai1.

1
SLP (civil) No(s).12065/2009
 National Green Tribunal Act, 2010

HISTORY

It is a matter of common knowledge that the Supreme Court of India is overburdened with a
large backlog of cases. In order to have effective prevention of environmental pollution, and
environmental complaints should be decided expeditiously which is not possible in the
present context of judicial administration. Hence, there was an urgent need for an alternative
forum to deal with the environmental cases without much delay. In M.C. Mehta v. Union of
India2, the Supreme Court opined that it would be desirable to have the setting-up of
environmental courts on the regional basis with professional judges and two experts drawn
from the Environmental Science Research Group. It is relevant to mention that to give effect
to the 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 Parliament of India has enacted the National Green
Tribunal Act. It is submitted that the Act confers on the Green Tribunal the power to hear
initial complaints as well as the appeals from the decisions of authorities under various
environmental laws. There is important salient feature of the Act is that the Green tribunal is
enjoined to follow the internationally recognized and national applied in environmental
principles of sustainable development i.e. Precautionary Principle and Polluter Pays
Principles while issuing any order, decision or award. Various kinds of reliefs are provided
under the Act, which 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 Schedule-I of the Act, which includes 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 Law Commission of India (186th Report 2003) recommended the establishment of

environmental courts in India. This recommendation was based on a review of the technical
and scientific problems that came before the courts and the inadequacy of judicial knowledge
on the scientific and technical aspects of environmental issues. 

2
1987 SCR (1) 819
ESTABLISHMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL COURTS

The NGT was established in the year 2010 under the National Green Tribunal Act of 2010 to
dispose of civil cases relating to environmental protection and conservation of forests and
other natural resources, including enforcement of any legal rights related to the environment
(National Green Tribunal). The Act was enacted through the Parliament of India, under the
provision of Article 21 of the Constitution of India, which emphasises the right to live in a
clean and healthy environment.

The NGT replaced the existing National Environment Appellate Authority of the Ministry of
Environment and Forest. The tribunal, according to the NGT Act of 2010, shall have the
‘jurisdiction over all civil cases where a substantial question relating to environment
(including enforcement of any legal right relating to environment) is involved and such
question arises out of the implementation of the enactments specified in Schedule I’,
namely :-

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

2. Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Cess Act of 1977,
3. The Forest (Conservation) Act of 1980,
4. The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act of 1981,
5. The Environment (Protection) Act of 1986,
6. The Public Liability Insurance Act of 1991 and
7. The Biological diversity Act of 2002.

At present, the NGT is functional in five locations. New Delhi is the principal seat of the
Tribunal (Principal Bench) and Bhopal (Central Zone), Pune (West Zone), Kolkata (East
Zone) and Chennai (South Zone) are the other seats of the tribunal as zonal benches. By
establishing zonal benches, people from different parts of the country can have access to the
tribunal. Each tribunal will have Judicial and Expert Members. Additionally, the NGT
constituted circuit benches to convene in places, viz. Shimla, Shillong, Jodhpur and Kochi, to
hear cases pertaining to particular states. This was mainly to reduce the constraints of
accessibility, especially for the poor and tribal populations living in remote areas of the
country.
COMPOSITION OF NGT

The tribunal shall consist of minimum of 10 members and not more than 20 members. This
will be in accordance with the notification given by the central government. The members
will be a mix of judges and expert members on environmental issues. In case of any deadlock
i.e. the tie between number of judges against and in favor of a decision the authority will
remain in the hands of chairperson to decide the case and break the deadlock.  Every bench of
tribunal must consist of at least one expert member and one judicial member

The qualification required by the person to become a chairperson is that he should have been
a Supreme Court judge or chief justice of a High Court and to become eligible for becoming
a judicial member of the tribunal the person should have been a judge of the High court. To
be qualified as an expert member of the tribunal a person shall possess a degree of master of
sciences whether physical sciences or life sciences with a doctorate 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 forests3.

POWERS OF NGT

The NGT is a ‘quasi-judicial body’ and has limited power. It has authority similar to law-
enforcement agencies, but it is not like a normal court. The courts have the power to
adjudicate all types of disputes, but NGT has the power of enforcing laws on administrative
agencies. NGT was created to ease the burden on the normal courts. NGT’s actions may be
appealed to a court of law. For example, in cases of crime and other offences, NGT can only
issue recommendations for punishment, depending on the nature and gravity of the offence.
However, such punishment can be challenged in a court of law, which is the final authority.
In this context also, the NGT’s role appears limited.

The NGT has been given the power to regulate the procedure by itself. It does not follow the
principles of civil procedure code instead it follows principles of natural justice 4. The NGT
also at the time of giving orders shall apply the principals of sustainable development and
also the principal that the one who pollutes shall pay. It will have the same power as of the
civil court in deciding the matter falling within these seven legal acts5. Even the NGT will not
3
Section 5, national green tribunal act, 2010
4
Section 18(2), national green tribunal act, 2010
5
Citizens welfare forum v. union of India(1996) 5 SCC 647
be bound by the rules of evidence as mentioned in the Indian evidence act. 6 Anything which
is not covered under these seven acts the NGT is not competent to admit the suit for that
matter. The major drawback of this limitation is that a person cannot approach the NGT for
every environmental issue. For instance NGT cannot admit a suit for cutting of trees in a
forest even though it is related to environment. 7 This is because the protection of forest act is
not within the jurisdiction of NGT. So in a way it is ambiguous for a common person to
comprehend when to and when not to go to NGT to seek remedy. This is a reform which
NGT needs that there should be inclusion of all acts related to environment degradation.

PROCEDURE FOR FILING APPLICATION/ APPEAL

The NGT follows a very simple procedure to file an application seeking compensation for
environmental damage or an appeal against an order or decision of the Government. The
official language of the NGT is English. 

For every application / appeal where no claim for compensation is involved, a fee of Rs.
1000/- is to be paid. In case where compensation is being claimed, the fee will be one percent
of the amount of compensation subject to a minimum of Rs. 1000/-.

A claim for Compensation can be made for:

1. Relief/compensation to the victims of pollution and other environmental damage

including accidents involving hazardous substances;

2. Restitution of property damaged;

3. Restitution of the environment for such areas as determined by the NGT.

No application for grant of any compensation or relief or restitution of property or

environment shall be entertained unless it is made within a period of five years from the date
on which the cause for such compensation or relief first arose.

6
Section 19(3), national green tribunal act, 2010
7
http://www.conservationindia.org/resources/ngt, last accessed 10/08/2019
 ROLE OF NATIONAL GREEN TRIBUNAL

To truly understand and analyse the role of National Green Tribunal in India, it is important
to break it down into positive and negative takeaways.

IMPORTANCE

The importance of NGT can be laid down as follows-

1. India is one of only a few countries to have a specialized environmental court system.
2. The advantage of such a system is that it permits direct access to environmental
justice
3. NGT allows for more relevant and greater expertise, sets up alternative dispute
resolution mechanisms and offers a path for the evolution of environmental
jurisprudence.
4. The track record of the still young NGT suggests that effort can produce results
5. Today, there is a fear among industry and environment regulators that some action
would be taken if a case is heard by NGT.
6. It provided a new dimension to environment adjudication by curtailing delays and
imparting objectivity.
7. To achieve the objective of Article 21, 47 and 51A (g) of the Constitution of India by
means of fair, fast and satisfactory judicial procedure.
8. Reduce the pressure and burden on the High Courts and Supreme Court

CRITICISM

1. Access to justice is denied by two means in NGT: firstly, by the provision of

limitation period and secondly, by virtue of NGT being located in only big cities
spread across India.
2. A green tribunal should have been based in a place that has the highest forest cover or
large mineral deposit.
3. For a tribal trying to stop pollution from an iron ore mine in Bastar, this means filing
and fighting a case in Bhopal. This is neither easy nor affordable.
4. NGT has been accused of overstepping its jurisdiction and taking actions for which it
has not been empowered under the NGT Act.
5. NGT’S critics have also questioned the “lack of environmental finesse” of its expert
members. “Usually, the expert members are experts of one particular field and not of
environment as a whole.
6. For instance, an expert member who has been working on forests for many years
would not be able to comprehend the issues arising out of industrial pollution.
7. Conflicts are brewing between NGT and the high courts. As per the NGT Act,
appeals from NGT can only go to the Supreme Court, thus by-passing the high courts.
8. Backlog of cases in NGT as another reason for the institution’s failure to address
environmental matters.
9. Despite the prompt steps taken by them, there has been little change in the ever rising
pollution levels.
 CONCLUSION

Since its establishment, National Green Tribunal (NGT) has emerged as a strong force for the
enforcement of Environmental Legislations in India. Further National Green Tribunal makes
one more innovation by providing strict penalty for non-observation of the order of the
tribunal. Thus, implementation of the order of the tribunal happens in a more effective
manner as compared to other civil courts.

However, unlike the other courts of the country, the rules relating to constitution and
composition of selection committee tilts the balance of power in favor of Central
Government. This requires a change. We need to ensure that NGT does not become a parking
lot for retired bureaucrats. The process of appointment needs to be fair and transparent and
the members appointed should be well qualified personals.

 Apart from that there is also certain sort of ambiguity in terms of jurisdiction i.e. whether the
High Court has jurisdiction to entertain appeals against the orders of the NGT. Madras High
Court has held that the High Court can entertain appeals against orders of NGT under
Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution, which is in contravention of the NGT Act.  Thus,
this ambiguity needs to be removed. The researchers believe that the High Courts should
have jurisdiction to entertain appeals against the orders of NGT under Article 227 of the
Constitution. This is because it will help in reducing the work-load of Supreme Court and
would also cause convenience to the parties involved in the dispute.