A parliamentary legislation that set up the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in 2010 probably did not anticipate the total lack of comprehensiveness in its approach so far. Invested with going into “substantial questions relating to the environment,” the NGT has managed to do little but court controversy and fuel outrage.
This, despite the NGT being manned by 10 judicial officials, with the chairperson being a sitting or retired high court Chief Justice or a Supreme Court judge, and 10 bureaucratic ‘experts’ of the minimum rank of additional secretary or principal secretary if serving/retired in the states, with at least five years’ experience in environmental matters. Or ones holding a doctorate in the subject.
Its latest volley on banning/scrapping/impounding old diesel vehicles came on 20 July 2016, when it modified its earlier 18 July order, in the face of protest from the automobile industry, the central government and car owners, among others.