Green court to be notified from Oct 18

NEW DELHI: The nation’s first environmental court, the National Green Tribunal (NGT), will be notified on October 18 with the appointment of retired Supreme Court Justice L S Panta as chairperson.

The legislation setting up a specialised court for dealing with environment issues was passed by both Houses of Parliament earlier this year and received the President’s assent on June 2.

Anyone can approach this civil judicial body on grievances that involve the environment. The National Green Tribunal will have the powers of a high court. The verdict given by the tribunal can be challenged only in the Supreme Court.
There are at present 5,600 environment-related cases pending in the courts. These cases will be transferred to NGT.

After Justice Panta’s appointment as NGT chairperson, the ministry will appoint the judicial and technical members of the tribunal through a selection committee.

The environment ministry has said that it will in consultation with Justice Panta devise a transparent set of rules to select judicial and expert members. A minimum of ten judicial and ten expert members will have to appointed. The tribunal’s chairperson may if he considers it necessary send invite to persons with specialised knowledge and experience to assist in particular cases.

Justice Panta will hold the office of NGT chairperson for five years. As per the law, he will not be eligible for reappointment for another term.

Individuals, organisations, civil society and governments can approach the tribunal for redressal. The green court would be governed by the principles of precautionary principles, polluter pays principle and intergenerational equity. While no limit has been fixed for compensation, NGT can impose a Rs 10 crore penalty and three years imprisonment term for failure to comply with its order. The penalty can be scaled up to Rs 25 crore penalty after the first offence.