Supreme Court Allows Three NGT Judicial Members To Continue Beyond Retirement Till Next Appointments

The Supreme Court recently directed three judicial members of the National Green Tribunal to continue to function as a stopgap arrangement, noting that imminent retirements would otherwise leave at least three vacancies and adversely affect the functioning of the Tribunal at five locations across the country.“In the circumstances, pending further appointments to be made and assumption of office to happen vis-a-vis the judicial members of the NGT or until further orders, as a stopgap arrangement, we direct that (i) Hon'ble Sri Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi, (ii) Hon'ble Smt. Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana, and (iii) Hon'ble Sri Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh, shall continue to function as judicial members of the NGT”, the Court stated.A bench of Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan clarified that the direction was issued bearing in mind that vacancies of judicial members would hamper the working of the NGT and adversely affect litigants seeking justice before the Tribunal. The Court passed the order in a writ petition filed by the NGT Bar Association (Western Zone) seeking directions for timely appointments to the posts of judicial members to the NGT as mandated by Section 4 of the National Green Tribunal Act. The petitioner submitted a chart before the Court stating that one judicial member was serving on extension for a period of three years and twenty six days as of the date of hearing. It was further submitted that three other judicial members would retire in March and April 2026. As a result, only one judicial member would continue, and that too on extension until new judicial members are appointed and assume charge. The petitioner contended that in such a situation, the National Green Tribunal would function solely with expert members, without judicial members, which would be contrary to Section 4(4) of the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010. Section 4 provides for the composition of the Tribunal and states that the number of Expert Members hearing an application or appeal shall be equal to the number of Judicial Members hearing such application or appeal. The chart before the Court showed that Justice Sheo Kumar Singh was appointed on March 16, 2020 and granted extension on January 16, 2023, Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi was appointed on March 25, 2022 and was to retire on March 24, 2026, Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana was appointed on March 30, 2022 and was to retire on March 29, 2026, and Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh was appointed on April 14, 2022 and was to retire on April 13, 2026.Additional Solicitor General Vikram Banerjee referred to the Supreme Court's November 19, 2025 judgment in Madras Bar Association v. Union of India and submitted that since the Court had directed the establishment of a National Tribunals Commission to oversee appointments to tribunals, the Union was working towards that end and had not processed further appointments.The Court noted that with one judicial member on extended tenure and three others retiring in March and April 2026, there would be at least three vacancies in the post of judicial members of the NGT, Western Zone, adversely affecting the functioning of the NGT at five different locations. “We find that insofar as the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 is concerned, one of the judicial members is serving in an extended period and three other judicial officers would retire in the months of March and April this year. This would imply that there would be at least three vacancies in the post of judicial members of the NGT. Consequently, in our view, this would adversely affect the very functioning of the NGT at five different locations in the country. Such a situation cannot be permitted to occur”, the Court observed.Pending further appointments and assumption of office by judicial members, or until further orders, the Court directed that Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi, Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana, and Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh shall continue to function as judicial members of the NGT as a stopgap arrangement.The Court further stated that the Union of India shall comply with the directions issued on November 19, 2025 in the judgment in Madras Bar Association.Case : NGT BAR ASSOCIATION (WESTERN ZONE) v. UNION OF INDIA & ORS.Click here to read the order

Supreme Court Allows Three NGT Judicial Members To Continue Beyond Retirement Till Next Appointments

Amisha Shrivastava

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