National Green Tribunal: the specialised forum that hears India's environmental cases

Background

Challenges to environmental clearances, pollution and forest diversion in India are heard not by the civil courts but by the National Green Tribunal, which the Tribunal's own website says was established on 18.10.2010 under the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010. It was set up for the effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental protection and the conservation of forests and other natural resources, including the enforcement of any legal right relating to the environment and the grant of relief and compensation for damage to persons and property. New Delhi is the Principal Place of Sitting of the Tribunal, and Bhopal, Pune, Kolkata and Chennai are the other four places of sitting. The Tribunal is mandated to endeavour to dispose of applications or appeals finally within 6 months of their filing. It is not bound by the procedure laid down in the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 or by the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, and is guided by the principles of natural justice; Section 19 of the Act gives it the power to regulate its own procedure. It also entertains letter petitions bringing substantial environmental damage to light.