NGT Bar tells Supreme Court 3 zonal benches may soon stop functioning due to lack of members

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) Bar Association on Monday expressed concerns before the Supreme Court that three zonal benches of the NGT may become non-functional soon due to a lack of members..The top court had earlier extended the tenure of certain NGT members. Their extended tenure will expire on September 8, following which the functioning of the NGT benches could come to a halt, submitted the NGT Bar Association. A Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, after hearing the Bar Association’s request for urgent listing, said, “Then we may list the matter before September 8.”The plea was earlier listed for September 15..The issue arises against the backdrop of earlier Supreme Court orders aimed at preventing the NGT from becoming dysfunctional because of vacancies among its judicial members. In February, the Court had noted that the retirement of judicial members would adversely affect the functioning of the NGT at multiple locations and, as a stopgap arrangement, permitted 3 judicial members to continue pending fresh appointments or further orders.Subsequently, on March 9, the Court extended the tenure of chairpersons and members of various tribunals whose terms were due to expire between March 9 and September 8, 2026, until September 8, subject to the applicable maximum age limits. The extension was intended to address concerns that tribunals could become defunct because of non-extension of tenures..During the hearing today, counsel appearing for the NGT Bar Association said,“Your Lordships will recall that Your Lordships have extended the tenures till September 8. Now three benches of the NGT, including the Southern Bench and Western Zone Bench, will all have to stop functioning from September 8 because the NGT Act does not allow a single-member Bench. So it will completely cripple them."He said that the new legislation governing tribunals would not immediately resolve the issue as the appointment process would take time.“But that cannot happen overnight. It will take some time for the appointments to happen. In the meantime, we cannot have one single Bench of the NGT functioning."He warned that in the absence of an extension or fresh appointments, only the Principal Bench in Delhi could continue functioning until the new appointments were made.“So three zonal benches come to a complete standstill and all matters will have to be heard in Delhi by the Principal Bench. Presently there are two Benches in Delhi, one of which will stop functioning from September 8. There is one in Madras.".The counsel also referred to Section 24(3) of the new Act, which contains a savings provision for appointment processes already underway. However, he said that it remained unclear how the appointment process would proceed and stressed that fresh appointments could take time.He, therefore, urged the Court to either hear the matter before September 8 or extend the existing arrangement until the matter comes up for hearing on September 15..[Read Live Coverage]