Introduction

Introduction

Activities of Policy and Law Division and Futre Plan

Policy and Law Division of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change handles mainly the following subjects:

Policy and Law (P&L) Division deals with the administration/ establishment matters of the National Green Tribunal (NGT); framing of NGT Recruitment Rules/ Amendments in the NGT Act and NGT Recruitment Rules; coordination with the Ministry of Law & Justice and handling of court cases in the Supreme Court of India, various High Courts and NGTs.

National Green Tribunal Act 2010:

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) was set up on 18th October, 2010 under the NGT Act, 2010, for the purpose of 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. It is a specialized body equipped with the necessary expertise to handle environmental disputes involving multi-disciplinary issues.

The Tribunal has five places of sitting i.e., the Principal Bench at New Delhi and Zonal Benches at Pune, Kolkata, Bhopal and Chennai.

Hon’ble Mr. Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, a sitting Judge of the Supreme Court of India was appointed as Chairperson, NGT w.e.f. 06.07.2018. At present, there are six Judicial Members in the NGT and a total of four posts for Judicial Members are lying vacant in the Tribunal. At present, there are four Expert Members in the NGT and a total of six posts for Expert Members are lying vacant in the Tribunal.

Judicial Members of the Tribunal are drawn from Judiciary while Expert Members are experts in physical and life sciences, engineering and technology including persons having practical experience and/ or administrative experience in the field of environment and forests.

Legal Monitoring Cell:

For effective monitoring of court cases in the Ministry, a Legal Monitoring Cell had been set up under P&L Division. Court cases are being monitored with the help of centralized Legal Information Management & Briefing System (LIMBS) developed by Ministry of Law & Justice, by regular updation of the status of all Court cases pertaining to the Ministry in the LIMBS portal. This platform provides information on the status of all Court Cases wherein the Ministry is one of the Parties.

The Policy & Law Division is also responsible for performing the following functions: