National Green Tribunal:

Introduction
The National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 (NGT Act) has been enacted to provide for the establishment of
a National Green Tribunal (NGT) "for effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to
environmental protection and 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."1

Establishment
To set the pace on environmental justice, there had been demand for envi- ronmental courts in India. To
improve decision-making on environmen- tal matters, the environmental courts were advocated in some
popular judgments of the Supreme Court. One such judgment was in M.C. Mehta v. Union of India
where the Supreme Court said that inasmuch as envi- ronment cases involve assessment of scientific
data, it was desirable to set up environment courts on a regional basis with a professional judge and two
experts, keeping in view the expertise required for such adjudication. Further in the judgment of Indian
Council for Enviro-Legal Action v. Union of India, the Supreme Court observed that environmental
courts having civil and criminal jurisdiction must be established to deal with the environmental issues in
a speedy manner.
To achieve the objective of Articles 21, 47 and 51-A(g) of the Constitution of India by means of fair, fast
and satisfactory judicial procedure, the Law Commission in its 186th Report recommended for
establishment of "Environment Court" in each State, consisting of judicial and scientific experts in the
field of environment for dealing with environmental dis- putes besides having appellate jurisdiction in
respect of appeals under the various pollution control laws, emphasising on Stockholm Declaration and
the Conference at Rio de Janeiro of 1992.

After years of deliberation, the National Green Tribunal Bill was intro- duced in the Indian Parliament
on 29 July 2009. The Bill provided for the establishment of a Green Tribunal, which will offer effective
and fast redressal of cases related to environmental protection and conservation of natural resources and
forests.

It received the Presidential assent on 2 June 2010, and was duly noti- fied on 18 October 2010. Thus, the
NGT was established on 18 October 2010 under the NGT Act. It was, therefore, a statutory
manifestation of a judicial prescription.

1
National Green Tribunal Act, 19 of 2010.
Chapter II of the Act in Sections 3 to 13 deals with the establishment of the Tribunal. Section 3
prescribes that the Central Government shall, by Notification, establish with effect from such date as
may be specified therein, a Tribunal to be known as the National Green Tribunal to exercise the
jurisdiction, powers and authority conferred on such Tribunal by or under the Act.
The Principal Bench of the NGT in Delhi covers the northern zone. The Pune Bench handles the western
territory; the Central Zone Bench is based in Bhopal; Chennai covers the southern part of India; and the
Kolkata Bench is responsible for the eastern region.

Constitution

Functions

Powers