Green tribunal to get office space, houses for members

NEW DELHI: Less than 72 hours after the Supreme Court threatened to scrap the National Green Tribunal as it was starved of office space and residential accommodation for its chairman and members, the Union government on Monday said it would make amends within three weeks.

On Friday, a bench of Justices G S Singhvi and S J Mukhopadhaya had pulled up the lackadaisical approach of the government in making NGT operational. The tribunal was constituted by an Act of Parliament in 2010 as a quasi-judicial body to adjudicate environment-related issues including grant of clearances for projects in forest areas.

What anguished the court was the fact that the tribunal, facing severe space crunch and inadequate secretarial and clerical staff, remained headless for the past two-and-a-half months. On Friday, it had termed the tribunal a "farce" while threatening to scrap it.

The court's anger appeared to have a galvanizing effect on the government as on Monday, senior officers of the environment ministry were present in court to avert any adverse order.

Additional solicitor general P P Malhotra, appearing for the ministry, assured the court that corrective steps would be taken within three weeks to make good the deficiencies, including appointment of a former apex court judge as chairman.

The court adjourned the hearing and hoped that no further orders would be required on this matter. On allotting office space to the tribunal at Faridkot House, the Centre said steps would be taken in consultation with the urban development ministry.