The environmental justice movement was started by primarily people of color, to address the inequity of environmental protection in their communities. In 1982, outcry over a toxic landfill in a majority-black North Carolina county, Dr. Bullard and allies pushed the Government Accountability Office study on a disproportionate share of hazardous facilities in black and Latino communities across the South. Delegates to the first-of-its-kind environmental justice summit, First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit, held in October 1991, in Washington DC, drafted and adopted 17 principles of Environmental Justice. These principles, since then, have served as a defining document for the growing grassroots movement for environmental justice. To this effect, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency created its Office of Environmental Justice, the following year.
Access to Environmental Justice in India
Access to environmental justice is central to ensuring just and equitable outcomes for sustainable development. National Green Tribunal is the judicial structure that offers access to environmental justice in India.
Genesis of National Green Tribunal in India
The law and policy framework in India sought to become comprehensive and stringent, mainly as a consequence of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, 1984. The ‘Command and Control approach’ was supplemented by Environment Impact Assessments and public hearings. However, contradictions and gaps in institutional mechanisms resulted in poor implementation of legislation (Gill 2013). As a consequence, the Indian judiciary promoted new and unique environmental jurisprudence by securing the enforcement of rights through Public Interest Litigation outside statute law, but within the constitutional mandate. However, a huge backlog of petitions, delayed disposal of petitions, complex technical and scientific issues, individual judicial preferences leading to inconsistent approach followed by the courts, and the issue of ineffective jurisdiction initiated a thought to establish an alternative, nodal agency to deal with environmental matters.
In case of M.C. Mehta v. Union of India (1997) 2 SCC 411, honorable Supreme Court of India pointed out that cases involving issues of environmental pollution, ecological destruction and its conflict over natural resources involved assessment and evolution of scientific data and, therefore, according to the court, there was an urgent need of involvement of experts in the administration of justice. The need for a dedicated Environmental Court was reiterated in the cases of Vellore Citizens’ Welfare Forum v. Union of India (1996) 5 SCC 647, Indian Council for Enviro-Legal Action v. Union of India (1996) 3 SCC 212, and in A.P. Pollution Control Board v. M.V. Nayudu (1999) 2 SCC 718. The voice compelled setting up of Green Benches in several High Courts of India. With time, seeking a balanced judicial forum that advances green jurisprudence, the Parliament of India enacted the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010. In effect, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) was formulated in 2010 and started functioning from July 2011 onwards.
National Green Tribunal
The National Green Tribunal is a multi-faceted and multi-skilled nodal body established on October 18, 2020, under the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 with the premise of ensuring environmental justice in India. Aiming to strike a right balance between environment and development, it is equipped with the obligatory expertise to handle environmental disputes involving multi-disciplinary issues. The Tribunal ensures effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental protection, conservation of forests, and other natural resources, including enforcement of any legal right relating to environment and giving relief and compensation for damages to persons and property and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. The nature of cases, dealt by the NGT may include environmental clearances for developmental projects including dams, steel plants, hydro-electric projects and thermal power plants, coastal zone regulations, encroachments on the floodplains, waste management, mining, issues relating to pollution, imposition of environmental fines, etc.
As per the mandate, the NGT shall pass orders or decisions or awards in conformity with the principles of sustainable development, precautionary and polluter pays. NGT is set up at five places of sittings including Bhopal, Pune, Kolkata and Chennai, however, New Delhi is the principal place for the sitting of Tribunal. This is aimed to make NGT more accessible.
Structure of the Tribunal
The Tribunal comprises of the Chairperson, the Judicial Members, and Expert Members. They shall hold office for a term of five years and are not eligible for reappointment. Central Government appoints the Chairperson in consultation with the Chief Justice of India. Selection Committee, formed by the Central Government appoints the Judicial Members and Expert Members. There are 10 to 20 full-time Judicial Members and Expert Members in the Tribunal, as the Central Government notifies from time to time.
Case Studies: a few landmark judgements of NGT
The expertise of the NGT benches is reflected in the Tribunal’s decisions. The Tribunal not only decide matters based on scientific evidence but also make policy suggestions to improve environmental management. Since its inception, the Tribunal has been successfully upholding its mandate as a ‘fast-track Court’ for effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental protection and conservation.
Major challenges faced by the Tribunal
- Lack of benches and proper infrastructure
- Escalating number of environmental cases
- No specific guideline or methodology to determine the amount of damages and fine to be imposed leads to ambiguity in decision-making
- Lack of effective support from Government both at the centre as well in states
- Inefficiency of Central and State Pollution Control Boards delays implementation of the tribunal’s decision
- Not having suo-moto powers also restricts its ambit in the area of environment
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