Environmental Science and Pollution Research (2018) 25:11313–11318

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-1763-2

TREND EDITORIAL

National Green Tribunal of India—an observation

from environmental judgements
Sridhar Rengarajan 1 & Dhivya Palaniyappan 1 & Purvaja Ramachandran 1 & Ramesh Ramachandran 1

Received: 23 August 2017 / Accepted: 13 March 2018 / Published online: 23 March 2018
# Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2018

Introduction India. This recommendation was based on a review of the

technical and scientific problems that came before the
Improving the environmental rule of law, access to justice courts and the inadequacy of judicial knowledge on the
and environmental dispute resolution is essential for achiev- scientific and technical aspects of environmental issues.
ing the UN’s 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development and (http://lawcommissionofindia.nic.in/reports/186th%
the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly 20report.pdf).
SDG Goal 16—‘to provide access to justice for all and build
effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all Establishment of environmental courts The NGT was
levels’, according to Pring and Pring (2016). To accomplish established in the year 2010 under the National Green
this goal, establishing specialised courts and tribunals deal- Tribunal Act of 2010 to dispose of civil cases relating to
ing exclusively with environmental matters is becoming es- environmental protection and conservation of forests and
sential. All over the world, more than 1200 environmental other natural resources, including enforcement of any legal
courts and tribunals are functioning in various countries, rights related to the environment (National Green Tribunal
and more such courts have been planned for the future, as n.d.). The Act was enacted through the Parliament of India,
discussed by Pring and Pring (2016). under the provision of Article 21 of the Constitution of
As far as India is concerned, the need for establishing India, which emphasises the right to live in a clean and
environmental courts in India arose in different circum- healthy environment.
stances and in different times. In the cases of M.C. Mehta The NGT replaced the existing National Environment
Vs. Union of India (AIR 1987 SC 965), Indian Council for Appellate Authority of the Ministry of Environment and
Enviro-Legal Action Vs. Union of India (1996 3 SCC 212) Forest. The tribunal, according to the NGT Act of 2010,
and A.P. Pollution Control Board Vs. Professor M.V. shall have the ‘jurisdiction over all civil cases where a
Nayudu (1992 2 SCC 718), the Indian Supreme Court substantial question relating to environment (including en-
(orders of 1986, 1996, 2001) observed that as environmen- forcement of any legal right relating to environment) is
tal cases frequently involve assessment of scientific data, involved and such question arises out of the implementa-
setting up environmental courts on a regional basis with a tion of the enactments specified in Schedule I’, namely The
legally qualified judge and two experts would help speed Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act of 1974,
the judicial process. the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Cess Act
The Law Commission of India (186th Report 2003) rec- of 1977, The Forest (Conservation) Act of 1980, The Air
ommended the establishment of environmental courts in (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act of 1981, The
Environment (Protection) Act of 1986,The Public
Liability Insurance Act of 1991 and The Biological diver-
Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues sity Act of 2002.
At present, the NGT is functional in five locations. New
* Sridhar Rengarajan
Delhi is the principal seat of the Tribunal (Principal Bench)
sridharaug@gmail.com
and Bhopal (Central Zone), Pune (West Zone), Kolkata
1
(East Zone) and Chennai (South Zone) are the other seats
National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management, Ministry of of the tribunal as zonal benches. By establishing zonal
Environment, Forests & Climate Change, Anna University Campus,
Chennai, India benches, people from different parts of the country can have
11314 Environ Sci Pollut Res (2018) 25:11313–11318

access to the tribunal. Each tribunal will have Judicial and environmentalism during the 1980s and 1990s, and the
Expert Members. Additionally, the NGT constituted circuit Bhopal Gas Tragedy and its implications. It is believed that
benches to convene in places, viz. Shimla, Shillong, environmental justice has become significant with the exis-
Jodhpur and Kochi, to hear cases pertaining to particular tence of a vibrant civil society and its capacity to inform state
states. This was mainly to reduce the constraints of accessi- policy and engender institutional evolution in Indian
bility, especially for the poor and tribal populations living in democracy.
remote areas of the country. Twelve key characteristics were found to be appropriate for
The NGT is a ‘quasi-judicial body’ and has limited power. assessing the successful operation of environmental courts
It has authority similar to law-enforcement agencies, but it is and tribunals (ECT) (Preston 2014). These include (i) status
not like a normal court. The courts have the power to adjudi- and authority; (ii) independence; (iii) centralised jurisdiction;
cate all types of disputes, but NGT has the power of enforcing (iv) knowledge of judges and members; (v) operating as a
laws on administrative agencies. NGT was created to ease the multi-door courthouse; (vi) access to scientific and technical
burden on the normal courts. NGT’s actions may be appealed expertise; (vii) facilitating access to justice; (viii) quick and
to a court of law. For example, in cases of crime and other cheap resolution of disputes; (ix) responsiveness to environ-
offences, NGT can only issue recommendations for punish- mental problems; (x) development of environmental jurispru-
ment, depending on the nature and gravity of the offence. dence; (xi) underlying ethos and mission and (xii) flexible,
However, such punishment can be challenged in a court of innovative and provides value-adding function.
law, which is the final authority. In this context also, the The application of international environmental law princi-
NGT’s role appears limited. ples, such as sustainable development, and precautionary and
Very few studies have been conducted on the functioning ‘polluter pays’, to the NGT was discussed by Gill (2014).
and effectiveness of NGT. An empirical analysis of NGT The ‘pros’ and ‘cons’ of the establishment of green tribu-
judgements from its inception in October 2010 to December nals were discussed in the Indian context from a comparative
2013 analysed the impact of NGT and the locations of con- perspective, and it was concluded that green tribunals appear
flicts in India (Patra and Krishna 2015). While discussing the to be very useful tools to satisfy the growing needs of envi-
subject of environmental justice in India, Gill (2016) argued ronmental protection and sustainable development in the
that ‘the involvement of technical experts in decision-making Asian region, in terms of efficacy and social legitimacy of
promotes better environmental results while simultaneously sustainable laws (Amirante 2012). While commenting on the
recognizing the uncertainty in science’ and also stated that establishment of NGT, Sharma (2008) argued that the consti-
‘India’s record as a progressive jurisdiction in environmental tution of a new court system may not be such a ‘green’ plan
matters through its proactive judiciary is internationally unless it is made capable of adjudicating in an atmosphere
recognized’. independent of dominating political interests, and suggested
Shrotria (2015) discussed the NGT, its jurisdiction, powers, the establishment of specialist divisions within the existing
functions, significant cases, principles applied, accessibility Indian High Courts as an alternative.
and value addition to environmental jurisprudence, and Up to the year 2016, 2051 judgements were delivered by
stated that NGT has had an important role in providing the NGT (including zonal benches) in total for various cases
access to justice on matters concerning the environment. It of environmental matters across the nation. It is agreed that all
also realised that a review on the provisions of the NGT Act of them are related to the environment from a broad perspec-
is needed with a view toward removing obstacles to making tive. However, there is a need to know the predominant areas
the NGT more effective. Shrotria (2015) also categorised the in the Environment, such as water, air, waste, noise and envi-
cases that are adjudicated by the NGT into five types, which ronmental compensation, on which appeals or petitions were
include (i) original applications filed by aggrieved persons made to the tribunal and Judgements were delivered. This is
arising under those legislations within the purview of the needed to understand the areas of greatest conflict that NGT
NGT Act, (ii) original applications seeking compensation, faces.
(iii) applications from the implementing authorities seeking In view of the above-mentioned limited studies on the func-
enforcement and legitimacy of conditions imposed on pol- tioning and effectiveness of NGT, the present work was for-
luters, (iv) appeals from industries against the decision of the mulated to address the research question: How do the effects
implementing authorities and (v) appeals from NGO’s/ag- of sensitive environmental issues emerge from natural and
grieved persons regarding non-compliance to rules/notifica- man-made causes, which lead the NGT to pronounce various
tions/clearances/etc. directions? The present study also made observations on the
Rajan (2014) attempted to highlight the history of environ- environmental judgements of the NGT, with special emphasis
mental justice in India since 1970. He discussed the ways on cases in the year 2016, to reveal the priority areas regarding
environmental justice was promoted, considering the environ- the environment that can be strengthened with appropriate
ment and development; the emergence of a red-green environmental monitoring mechanisms.
Environ Sci Pollut Res (2018) 25:11313–11318 11315

Methodology Zonewise Judgement 2016

For the present study, all the judgements for the year 2016 EZ
cz
(Total no. of judgements: 510) were collected from the 5%
2% New Delhi
NGT Website (http://www.greentribunal.gov.in/). Each 16%

judgement was carefully examined to learn the details of wz

the Appellants and Respondents, main petition by the 15%

Appellant, background of the case and the judgement SZ

given by the tribunal. Based on the petition of the 62%

appellants and the core point of the order, the judgements

were classified and grouped under several sectors
concerning the environment. The judgements were also Fig. 2 Judgements from different zones of NGT. SZ South Zone, EZ East
grouped based on the zonal representations in India. Zone, CZ Central Zone, WZ West Zone
Further, the judgements of the NGT for each year from
2011 to 2016 were also counted from the NGT website to
observe their increasing or decreasing trends. environmental law. This was done considering the jurisdic-
tions of the NGT. When NGT was established, it was defined
that NGT would adjudicate on the matters coming under the
various Acts, viz. The Water (Prevention and Control of
Results and discussion Pollution) Act, 1974, The Water (Prevention and Control of
Pollution) Cess Act, 1977, The Forest (Conservation) Act,
The number of environmental judgements delivered by the
1980, The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act,
NGT from its inception is on an increasing trend, indicat-
1981, The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, The Public
ing the growing environmental concerns in a developing
Liability Insurance Act, 1991 and The Biological Diversity
country like India. Based on analysis of the judgements of
Act, 2002. Accordingly, the judgements were classified into
NGT, so far, a total of 2051 judgements were delivered by
different environmental sectors, namely Air, Water, Waste,
the NGT (including zonal benches) from the inception year
Noise, Nature, Industry Operations, Thermal Power Plants,
2011 to the year 2016, for various cases of environmental
Mining Operations, Environmental Compensations and
matters across the nation. The minimum was seen in the
Others. The classification details of different sectors analysed
year 2011 (28 orders) and the maximum was seen in the
in the present study are given in Table 1.
year 2015 (821 orders) (Fig. 1). Further, a majority of the
Of the total judgements delivered in 2016 (510 Nos.), the
judgements were from the Southern Zone (318), followed
majority of petitions were related to Industry Operations (176)
by the Principal bench-New Delhi (79), West Zone (78),
which was followed by the other environmental sectors name-
East Zone (25) and Central zone (10) (Fig. 2).
ly, Nature (143), Mining Operations (61), Water (43), Waste
We examined the NGT judgements, taking the year 2016
(26), Environmental Compensations (12), Noise (11) and Air
as a case study, to understand the petitions behind the judge-
(9), as shown in Fig. 3. Depending on the nature of the cases,
ments. There were 510 judgements delivered by NGT in
the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
2016 and they were classified under different sectors of
(MoEF&CC) was made one of the Respondents. In the cases
of 2016 taken for analysis, in the majority of petitions, the
MoEF&CC became one of the Respondents.
No. of cases handled and judgements delivered As can be seen, the greatest number of petitions during
1000 2016 concerned Industry Operations and secondly Nature
800 issues. Here, the sector Industry Operations covers various
No of Judgements

appeals concerning Impact Assessment, Environmental

600
Clearances, Small Industrial Units, Consent to Operate
400 and Standards. The sector Nature covers those appeals
about Nature Conservation, Forests, Tree Cutting, Green
200
Belts, Wetlands, Landscape and Construction. Overall,
0 the sector Industry Operations is based on the environmen-
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
tal clearances of projects and their monitoring activities.
Year
The present regulatory provisions for protecting our envi-
Fig. 1 Environmental judgements delivered by the NGT from 2011 to ronment and institutional mechanism that are already in
2016 place to monitor these activities need to be reviewed from
11316 Environ Sci Pollut Res (2018) 25:11313–11318

Table 1 Different sectors of

environmental law Sl. no Sector Details of sector

1. Air Air pollution, emissions/smoke from vehicles, etc.

2. Water Drinking water, ground water, etc.
3. Waste Solid waste, liquid waste, sewage, ETPs, etc.
4. Noise Noise pollution
5. Nature Nature conservation, forest, tree cutting, green belt,
wetland, landscape, construction, etc.
6. Industry Operations Impact Assessment, Environmental clearances, small
industrial units, consent, standards for operation, etc
7. Thermal Power Plants Impact of Thermal Power Plants and related
8. Mining operations Quarrying activities of sand, coal, mineral, stone, etc.
9. Environmental Compensations Compensations
10. Others The applications are not in proper format or no
representation from the appellants when hearing, etc.

the awareness and implementation points of view, as the collection of data and preparation of draft EIA/EMP report,
majority of cases are related to Industry Operations. public consultation, finalisation of EIA/EMP report, appraisal
The MoEF&CC in the central government is the nodal agen- by the Expert Appraisal Committee and examination in the
cy for overseeing the implementation of the country’s environ- MoEF&CC for grant of environmental clearance.
mental policy and programme relating to conservation and pro- Further, violation cases are taken in parallel by the
tection, taking the principle of sustainable development as the MoEF&CC for appropriate action. The regional offices of the
main guidance. The existing system for issuing environmental MoEF&CC are located at Bangalore, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar,
clearances for projects and their monitoring activities are well Chandigarh, Chennai, Dehradun, Lucknow, Nagpur, Ranchi
constituted. From the environmental protection point of view, and Shillong, which inter-alia monitor the implementation of
prior environmental clearances are issued by the MoEF&CC conditions and safeguards stipulated by the Ministry while
before any developmental projects are implemented in the granting clearances to development projects under rules speci-
country, in accordance with the Environment Impact fied under the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act,
Assessment (EIA) Notification of 2006. Further, the environ- 1986. In addition to the above, the MoEF&CC also engages the
mental norms issued for developmental projects are monitored National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management
by the Regional Offices of the Ministry and the relevant State (NCSCM) for EIA studies and monitoring activities for envi-
Pollution Control Boards and Pollution Control Committees of ronmental projects of CRZ nature.
Union Territories. The process of prior environmental clearance In the matter of Rajendra Singh Bhandari Vs State of
includes screening, scoping, public consultation and appraisal. Uttarakhand and Others (Original Application No. 318 of
The process includes prescription of Terms of Reference, 2013), the NGT issued detailed guidelines to the State

Fig. 3 Appeals/Petitions to the

Appeals/Petitions to the NGT from various Environmental Sectors in
NGT from various environmental
2016
sectors in 2016. A Air, WT Water,
WS Waste, N Noise, NT Nature, 40
IO Industry Operation, TPP 35
Thermal Power Plant, MI Mining
30
% of Judgements

Operation, E.Comp
Environmental Compensation, 25
OT Others 20

15

10

0
A WT WS N NT IO TPP MI E. comp OT
Environmental Sectors
Environ Sci Pollut Res (2018) 25:11313–11318 11317

Governments/Union Territories for preventing and controlling (ii) In appropriate cases, NGT refers cases back to the re-
water pollution through the State Pollution Control Boards. spective coastal zone management authorities to exam-
NGT also highlighted that the constitution of the Pollution ine the matter for appropriate action in accordance with
Control Boards and eligibility criteria and appointment of the provisions of CRZ Notification.
Chairman/Member Secretary of the Boards/Committees (iii) In some cases, NGT will also hold the clearances issued,
should be in accordance with the Water Act and Air Act. until an action is taken by coastal zone management
authorities.
Suo motu applications From the study, we observed that, in (iv) NGT issues directions to the MoEF&CC and CZMA to
several important environmental matters, the NGT takes carry out inspections to ensure compliance to CRZ/EC
suo motu appeals in the interest of environmental protec- conditions and Environmental Regulations.
tion and public health. In the context that NGT does not
have power for suo motu appeals under the NGT Act, the
question of ‘can NGT take Suo Motu cognisance of an en- Environmental compensations Under the category of envi-
vironmental matter?’ was discussed by Shrotria (2015), cit- ronmental compensation, the NGT provides relief and
ing examples of a few of the cases that the NGT dealt with. compensation to the victims of pollution and other envi-
The act of suo motu by NGT was challenged in the Madras ronmental damage as well as for restitution of property
High Court, which disagreed with the argument made by damaged and for restitution of the environment. In several
the tribunal, i.e. the tribunal is empowered to evolve its own judgements, NGT has directed environmental compensa-
procedure and it can take suo motu cognisance of an envi- tions to be made on the basis of the ‘polluter pays princi-
ronmental issue. ple’. In the matter of Samir Mehta Vs. Union of India and
In the year 2016, there were a total of eleven (11) suo Others, as per the judgement dated 23-08-2016, the NGT
motu appeals taken by the NGT. Among them, the Water directed that an environmental compensation to be paid by
sector ranked first (5) and both Industry Operations (2) and the Respondent of concern for the damage caused to the
Nature (2) sectors ranked second and Mining and Waste ecosystem, loss to ecology and livelihood in accordance
sectors, having one appeal each, ranked third. In the matter with the ‘Polluter Pays Principle’.
of suo motu proceedings initiated on a petition received In the matter of Manoj Mishra Vs. Union of India and
from Sri.K.J. Poulose, Ernakulam (Application No.389 of Others, as per the Judgement dated 13-01-2015 pertaining to
2013), the NGT issued directions to the State Pollution the clean and rejuvenated Yamuna River, Delhi, the NGT
Control Board (SPCB) for prevention of pollution of the issued directions to the Civic and Municipal authorities of
river Periyar by Industries and to take appropriate action in Delhi to charge every household an environmental compen-
case of violation, including closure of the units, after fol- sation fee as part of the property/house tax. Similarly, in the
lowing due process of law. case of Krishan Kant Singh Vs. National Ganga River Basin
We noted that in one of the suo motu appeals (Application Authority (2014), NGT directed, in its judgement delivered on
No. 182 of 2013 in the matter of suo motu Vs. The Secretary 16 October 2014, the defaulting industrial unit to pay a com-
to Government, Municipal Administration and Water Supply pensation of Rupees Five Crores to the concerned State
Department, Government of Tamil Nadu), the tribunal took a Pollution Control Board based on the Polluter Pays Principle
complaint of poor quality of government tap water in Chennai for undertaking remedial activities to ensure river conserva-
City and issued directions to the authorities concerned. From tion. In another judgement (R K Patel Vs. Union of India,
the above facts, we can understand that the NGT is function- judgement delivered 18 February 2014), the NGT directed
ing effectively, and the NGT is seen as ‘Responsive to for environmental compensation of Rupees Ten Lakhs to the
Environmental Problems’, as one of the characteristics of suc- aggrieved farmers at Vapi, Gujarat due to the hazardous waste
cessful environmental courts and tribunals. pollution.

Coastal Regulation Zone issues From the judgements of the

year 2016, there were 17 judgements related to the Coastal Conclusion
Regulation Zone (CRZ). In such CRZ matters, the NGT
handled the applications and dealt with them after examin- The progress of environmental justice in India has been on
ing the nature of the individual case. We noted that in increasing trend, with effective usage of NGT. While this re-
several cases of CRZ nature, the NGT made the following flects that there is a growing trust in NGT by the people, there
observations and directions: may be enormous pressure on NGT, which needs more man-
power, probably in the context that NGT aims to dispose of
(i) NGT stressed that the public hearing process is necessary cases within 6 months. The effects of sensitive environmental
before finalising a Coastal Zone Management Plan. issues that emerge from natural and man-made sources have
11318 Environ Sci Pollut Res (2018) 25:11313–11318

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