In February 2018, the SC stayed the move, ruling that the terms and conditions for appointment and termination of National Green Tribunal (NGT) members would be governed by the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has cleared the appointment of an unspecified number of members in the National Green Tribunal for three years “or until further orders”. This flies in the face of the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010.
Under National Green Tribunal (NGT) Rules, a Tribunal member has a fixed 5-year tenure and cannot be removed without consulting the Chief Justice of India (CJI) and an inquiry conducted by a judge of the SC.
While the ‘information note’ issued on Sept 2 doesn't name the appointees or the date of appointments, sources in the Environment Ministry said the new appointees are serving Director General of Forest (DGF) Siddhanta Das and Additional Director General of Forest (ADGF) Saibal Dasgupta. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) note stated that necessary communication in this regard had been sent to the Environment Ministry.
“I cann't comment on why the term is for 3 years. Yes, I have about 8 months till retirement. So I will discuss with the National Green Tribunal (NGT) Chairman and decide what to do. One needs to serve 3-month notice for voluntary retirement,” Das told. Dasgupta, the other appointee, retires this month from the Ministry.
Earlier, in June 2017, the govt had introduced the ‘Tribunal, Appellate Tribunal and other Authorities (Qualifications, Experience and other Conditions of Service of Members) Rules, 2017’ through the Finance Act 2017.
The 2017 Rules were meant to change, among other things, the composition of the selection committee that helped the govt pick members for the National Green Tribunal (NGT), and the ways to remove Tribunal members.
In Feb 2018, the SC stayed the move, ruling that the terms and conditions for appointment and termination of National Green Tribunal (NGT) members would be governed by the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010.
“This is wrong at many levels. 1st, serving Ministry officials are named as future Tribunal members where they will hear appeals against the decisions they take in the Ministry. Secondly, the five-year tenure is cut to 3 and that too dependent on further executive order. The govt is telling the Tribunal members to serve at its pleasure,” a senior lawyer said.
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