NGT Can't Exercise Suo Motu Powers On Letters, Media Reports : Amicus Curiae Tells Supreme Court [Hearing Day 3]

The Supreme Court on Tuesday continued hearing a batch of petitions on the issue whether the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has jurisdiction under the provisions of the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 (NGT Act) to initiate suo motu proceedings based on a letter or a newspaper report.The matter is being adjudicated upon by a Bench comprising Justices AM Khanwilkar, Hrishikesh Roy and CT Ravikumar and it has been made clear that the Bench would only examine the legal issue in consideration and would not delve into the merits of the individual cases. The cases being adjudicated upon are: 1. An appeal filed by the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai against an order of the NGT on waste disposal passed on the basis of an article published in 'The Quint'.2 . Batch of appeals arising from an order passed by the NGT on the basis of a letter representation increasing the minimum distance rule for quarries in Kerala as 200 meters from 50 meters from residential units. The Kerala High Court had held that NGT has suo motu jurisdiction; however it limited the operation of the order to new quarries and allowed existing quarries to operate as per earlier distance limit till the term of their license.Conferring suo moto powers on the NGT will emasculate authorities/boards specified in Schedule 1 of the NGT Act: Anand Grover Senior Advocate Anand Grover who has been made an amicus curiae in the matter submitted before the Court that only Constitutional courts have been reposed the power to initiate suo moto proceedings. He thus maintained that under the provisions of the NGT Act, the Tribunal does not have the power to take suo moto cognisance of communications, media reports etc. He further asserted that the 'plain meaning' of the legislation must be given credence to in order to ascertain the intention of the legislature. The Court must start with the presumption that the legislature did not make a mistake, the senior counsel further argued. Furthermore, it was contended that the NGT can exercise jurisdiction only in the presence of a lis or dispute. "Unless a person is aggrieved and approaches the Tribunal, the Tribunal cannot exercise suo moto powers", senior advocate Gorver further argued. To this, the Bench observed, "No express suo moto powers are there, we take it. However, we are not saying that the Tribunal has suo moto powers per se. What if a communication is received in the office of the Registrar, not in Form 1 as required and accordingly the communication is placed before the Tribunal. Then the Tribunal has to pass a formal order where the Tribunal can ask for the defects to be cured and formalities to be completed..does the Tribunal have the power to do that?In response, the senior counsel remarked, "At a personal level, I would want such access to be liberal but in light of the provisions of the Act, it is difficult'. He also submitted before the Court that one of the main concerns is that often the respondents are not notified when the NGT takes suo moto cognisance of a matter. He further argued that in case the Tribunal takes suo moto cognisance of communications, then 'an external source is a must'. "If the process is triggered by an external source, then the form of the communication is irrelevant", the senior counsel further added. Abating the concern raised, the Bench remarked, "the other side will be notified in case the Tribunal takes suo moto cognisance". Referring to the Section 14 of the NGT Act wherein it has been stated that the Tribunal shall have jurisdiction in matters that involve a substantial question arising out of the implementation of the enactments specified in Schedule I, the senior counsel submitted that authorities specified in the statutes mentioned in Schedule 1 such as the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 etc have all been granted independent powers. "Powers conferred upon these authorities will be truncated, they will be emasculated if the Tribunal is granted suo moto powers", senior counsel Gorver further added. Assuming such powers take away powers at a lower level, it was further contended. Process of law should never defeat the purpose of law; NGT has suo moto powers: Nidhesh Gupta Senior advocate Nidhesh Gupta appearing for one of the parties submitted before the Court that the NGT has complete suo moto powers and that exercise of such powers is not restricted to merely taking cognisance of a communication or a media report. He referred to the 186th Law Commission Report wherein it had been enumerated, "However, the High Courts, even if they are approached under Art. 226 either in individual cases or in PIL cases, where orders of environmental authorities could be questioned, may refuse to intervene on the ground that there is an effective alternative remedy before the specialist Environmental Court." Thus the senior counsel argued that the Law Commission intended to impose suo moto powers...

NGT Can't Exercise Suo Motu Powers On Letters, Media Reports : Amicus Curiae Tells Supreme Court [Hearing Day 3]

Aaratrika Bhaumik

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