Supreme Court extends tenure of 3 NGT members; AG says 229 tribunal members' tenure extended

The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed two Judicial Members and one Expert Member of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) whose once-extended terms expire today to continue in office despite their crossing the retirement age, until fresh member appointments are made..The direction was passed by a Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana to ensure that the NGT's functioning is not hampered until new appointments are made to fill vacancies at the tribunal."In order to ensure that the day-to-day functioning of the National Green Tribunal is not hampered, we direct continuation of the two Judicial Members and one Expert Member as an interim measure till fresh appointments are made in their place," the Court ordered. The order was passed after Attorney General (AG) R Venkataramani apprised the Court of the position concerning vacancies in various tribunals during the transition to a new regime under the Tribunal Reforms Act, 2026..The Court had earlier extended the tenure of chairpersons and members of various tribunals whose terms were due to expire between March and September until September 8, subject to the applicable maximum age limits.The NGT Bar Association later expressed concerns that three zonal Benches of the NGT could become non-functional from September 8 onwards with the expiry of some of the tribunal members' extended tenures.The association had pointed out that the NGT Act does not permit a single-member Bench. As such, the expiry of the members' extended terms on September 8 could cripple the Southern and Western Zone Benches of the NGT, the association had submitted. .Today, AG Venkataramani informed the Court that under Section 24 of the 2026 Tribunals Act, 248 members serving on different tribunals were eligible to have their terms extended because they had not yet completed the five-year term prescribed under the new law. He further submitted that extension orders have already been issued for 229 members, while orders for the remaining 19 were being issued on Tuesday..CJI Kant then clarified that tribunal members who have served for less than five years would be allowed to continue until they complete five years, unless they reach the maximum age at which they are legally permitted to remain in office. The Court, accordingly, directed the Centre to formally issue extension orders on this basis.AG Venkataramani, however, pointed out a specific problem with the National Green Tribunal (NGT). Two Judicial Members and one Expert Member had already reached the maximum age allowed under the law, meaning they could not ordinarily have their terms extended. If they left, he argued, some NGT Benches could be left without enough members to hear cases while the government completes the process of appointing their replacements.The Court, therefore, allowed the three NGT members to continue temporarily until new members are appointed, to ensure that the tribunal's functioning does not come to a halt..AG Venkataramani also said that the process of selecting and appointing new members is expected to take around three months.Further, the Court issued directions concerning vacancies in other tribunals as well, asking the Centre to proceed with appointments under the new statutory framework without delay."In respect of other Tribunals also, where Judicial, Technical, Expert, Administrative, etc. Members are required to be appointed by the Central Government, we direct the Central Government to take up the matter of appointments in accordance with the provisions of the 2026 Act without any delay," directed the Court..[Read Live Coverage]