Greening better: NGT is a vital cog in environment regulation but it needs a performance review & better staffing

Source: The post is based on the article “Greening better: NGT is a vital cog in environment regulation but it needs a performance review & better staffing” published in “The Times of India” on 6^th July 2022.

Syllabus: GS 2 – Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies.

Relevance: To understand the challenges faced by NGT.

News: Given the rampant ecological degradation and related localised grievances, an adjudicatory body(NGT) staffed with judicial and technical experts having significant powers offers a lot of promise. However, many of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) orders are being appealed in Supreme Court and high courts.

What are the few recent instances?

A construction firm complained that it wasn’t heard before NGT imposed a penalty of Rs 40 crore on it. In that case, the Supreme Court criticised the NGT for passing “mechanical and pre-drafted” orders.

Another SC bench expressed displeasure with NGT’s tendency to set up expert committees. The bench noted that NGT’s adjudicatory functions cannot be delegated in this manner.

What are the challenges faced by NGT?

Lack of political support: Some of NGTs big-bang orders include de-registering 10-year-old diesel vehicles, bans on firecrackers, RO-water purifiers and sand-mining, etc. But these had minimal impact in the absence of political support.

Staffing issues: Against NGT Act’s mandate to have 10-20 judicial and expert members each, NGT presently has seven judicial and six expert members. In 2019, these numbers were down to four and two respectively. This resulted in increasing backlogs and hasty disposals.

Judicial intervention: Hasty disposals resulted in increasing stays against NGT orders from SC and HCs, especially in clearing or blocking projects.Thus eroding NGT’s credibility.

Challenges with virtual mode: NGT was one of the pioneers of virtual hearings, but lawyers say the lack of physical interface has affected NGTs ability to make a more urgent cases before the bench.

Apart from that, NGT has also struck between the “development vs environment” debate.

NGT must get the support it needs from the government but NGT must also do more to avoid backlogs and hasty disposals. This can be done by conducting a performance review of NGT & providing better staffing.