The National Green Tribunal Act, 2010

What it does

The National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 (Act No. 19 of 2010) established the National Green Tribunal for the effective and expeditious disposal of cases about the protection of the environment, forests and other natural resources, including the enforcement of any legal right relating to the environment and the giving of relief and compensation for damage to persons and property. The principal bench sits in Delhi, with regional benches elsewhere in the country.

The Tribunal's jurisdiction is set by the Act. It has original jurisdiction over civil cases that raise a substantial question relating to the environment, where the question arises out of the implementation of one of the enactments listed in a Schedule to the Act. Those include the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, the Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991 and the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, among others. It also hears appeals against orders and decisions made under those enactments, including the grant or refusal of an environmental clearance, and it may award relief and compensation to victims of pollution and for the restitution of the environment.

Who it binds

Industrial and infrastructure projects that need environmental consent, the regulators that grant or refuse it, and any person who is alleged to have caused damage to the environment. A person aggrieved by an order of a regulator, or by an act that harms the environment, may approach the Tribunal, and so may a person representing an affected community. The Tribunal's orders bind the parties and the authorities and are enforceable as a decree.

What has changed, and when

The Schedule of enactments under the Tribunal's jurisdiction has been affected by later amendments to those laws, so the list of what comes before it should be read from the current text of the Schedule and not from an earlier statement of it.

What turns on it in practice

The Tribunal is not bound by the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 or the law of evidence. It follows the principles of natural justice and, in deciding, applies the principles of sustainable development, the precautionary principle and the polluter pays principle. This gives it a freer procedure than a civil court, and gives parties a reason to prepare technical evidence, since the Tribunal sits with expert members as well as judicial ones and its findings turn on technical material.

Time limits are strict. An application or appeal must be made within a short period from the date of the cause of action or of the order, and the Tribunal may extend the period only for a limited further time if it is satisfied there was sufficient cause. A project that does not challenge an order of a regulator within the period cannot do so afterwards, and an affected person who does not come within the period for a claim for compensation loses it.

An appeal from the Tribunal lies to the Supreme Court. For an infrastructure or industrial project, the Tribunal is where an environmental clearance is most often tested, and a clearance can be quashed or sent back for fresh appraisal. The project and land work of this practice includes advice on environmental compliance and on litigation before the Tribunal, which forms part of the structuring and defence of an infrastructure project.