Madras HC restrains Green tribunal from initiating suo moto proceedings

Chennai: The Madras high court has restrained the National Green Tribunal (NGT), Southern Bench, from initiating suo motu proceedings against anyone, including the statutory authorities.

A division bench, comprising Justices S.K.Agnihotri and K.K.Sasidharan, also ordered notice, returnable by January 22, to the Deputy Registrar, NGT on a public interest litigation from advocate P. Sundararajan.

The petitioner’s counsel, M. Radhakrishnan, contended that the NGT was constituted to settle disputes between parties. The suo motu proceedings it has been initiating have no legal sanctity and the Tribunal should be restrained from doing so, he added.

In its interim order, the bench said the NGT was a creature of the statute. The tribunal has to function within the parameters laid down by the NGT Act, 2010. The tribunal was constituted for speedy disposal of cases relating to the environment.

“The tribunal is not a substitute for the high court in all respects. The tribunal should act within the four corners of the statute,” the bench said. The jurisdiction to entertain a petition is provided under the Act, but not to initiate suo motu proceedings.