Environmental Justice in India: The National Green Tribunal

265 Pages·2016·4.972 MB·English

by  Gitanjali Nain Gill

Environmental Justice in India
Modern environmental regulation and its complex intersection with inter-
national law has led many jurisdictions to develop environmental courts or tri-
bunals. Strikingly, the list of jurisdictions that have chosen to do this include
numerous developing countries, including Bangladesh, Kenya and Malawi.
Indeed, it seems that developing nations have taken the task of capacity-
building in environmental law more seriously than many developed nations.
Environmental Justice in India explores the genesis, operation and effectiveness
of the Indian National Green Tribunal (NGT). The book has four key object-
ives. First, to examine the importance of access to justice in environmental
matters promoting sustainability and good governance Second, to provide an
analytical and critical account of the judicial structures that offer access to
environmental justice in India. Third, to analyse the establishment, working
practice and effectiveness of the NGT in advancing a distinctively Indian green
jurisprudence. Finally, to present and review the success and external challenges
faced and overcome by the NGT resulting in growing usage and public respect
for the NGT’s commitment to environmental protection and the welfare of the
most affected people.
Providing an informative analysis of a growing judicial development in India,
this book will be of great interest to students and scholars of environmental
justice, environmental law, development studies and sustainable development.
Gitanjali Nain Gill is a Reader in Law at Northumbria Law School, UK.
Routledge Explorations in Environmental Studies
Ecology, Sustainable Development The Governance of Sustainable
and Accounting Rural Renewal
Seleshi Sisaye A comparative global perspective
Rory Shand
Environmental Change and the
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Ecologies, ontologies and mythologies A bioecological approach
Edited by Jonathan Paul Marshall and Helen J. Boon, Alison Cottrell and
Linda H. Connor David King
Fairness and Justice in Natural
Environmental Adaptation and
Resource Politics
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A coevolutionary approach to society
Staritz, Karin Küblböck, Christina Plank,
and nature
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Johannes Schubert
Environmental Justice in India
Complexity and Creative Capacity
The National Green Tribunal
Rethinking knowledge transfer,
Gitanjali Nain Gill
adaptive management and wicked
environmental problems Socioeconomic Evaluation of
Kelly Chapman Megaprojects
Dealing with uncertainties
Contemporary Perspectives on Edited by Markku Lehtonen,
Ecofeminism Pierre- Benoît Joly and Luis Aparicio
Mary Phillips and Nick Rumens
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Culture and Conservation Decision-M aking and the Political
Beyond anthropocentrism Economy of Investment
Eleanor Shoreman-O uimet and Helen Edited by Blas Luis Pérez Henríquez and
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Environmental Justice in India
The National Green Tribunal
Gitanjali Nain Gill
First published 2017
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2017 Gitanjali Nain Gill
The right of Gitanjali Nain Gill to be identified as author of this work has
been asserted by him/her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
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Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing- in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Names: Gill, Gitanjali Nain, author.
Title: Environmental justice in India : the National Green Tribunal /
Gitanjali Nain Gill.
Description: New York, NY : Routledge, 2016.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016025442| ISBN 9781138921108 (hb) |
ISBN 9781315686592 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Environmental justice–India. | India. National Green
Tribunal. | Environmental law–India.
Classification: LCC KNS1507 .G55 2016 | DDC 344.5404/6–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016025442
ISBN: 978-1-138-92110-8 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-68659-2 (ebk)
Typeset in Goudy
by Wearset Ltd, Boldon, Tyne and Wear
Dedicated to my loving parents, Narinder Singh and Sawinder
Kaur Nain

Contents
List of illustrations viii
Table of cases ix
Foreword xvii
Acknowledgements xxii
List of abbreviations xxiv
Introduction 1
1 Environmental justice: a global perspective 10
2 Genesis and establishment of the National Green
Tribunal 39
3 The National Green Tribunal Act 2010: interpretation
and application 72
4 National Green Tribunal: normative principles 120
5 National Green Tribunal: science and law 148
6 National Green Tribunal: judgments and analysis 186
7 The National Green Tribunal’s journey: challenges and
success 208
Index 230
Illustrations
Figures
6.1 Caseload 2011–2015 187
6.2 Benches (principal and regional) 188
6.3 Nature of disputes 189
6.4 Bench disputes distribution 191
6.5 Year disputes distribution 193
6.6 Plaintiffs 195
6.7 Defendants 197
6.8 Plaintiffs and defendants: common parties 198
6.9 Disputes outcomes 200
6.10 Plaintiffs’ outcomes 203
Table
3.1 Implementation status of NGT directions 92
Table of cases
All judgments cited are National Green Tribunal judgments unless otherwise
stated.
A Concerned Villager from Nerul Village (Bardez-Goa) v State of Goa Order
19 September 2014 ........................................................................................................78
A G Kajale v M/S Godhavari Bio-Refineries Ltd Judgment 19 May 2015 ..........................104
A Gothandaraman v Commissioner Judgment 17 March 2015 ..................................144n40
Aadi Properties v State Level Environmental Impact Assessment Committee Judgment
25 April 2014 ...............................................................................................................110
Aadi Properties v State Level Environmental Impact Assessment Committee Judgment
26 September 2013 ...............................................................................................114n24
Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society Ltd v Union of India Order 10 March 2014
...................................................................................................................113n1, 226n27
Adivasi Mazdoor Kisan Ekta Sangathan v Ministry of Environment and Forests
(MoEF) Judgment 20 April 2012 .........................................................................225n16
Ajay Kumar Negi v Union of India Judgment 7 July 2015 .....................................126, 142n3
Akhil Bhartiya Soshit Karamchari Sangh (Railway) v Union of India (1981)
1 SCC 246 ......................................................................................................................40
Al Haj MTM Ashik v RPS Bandula, OIC Weligama (the Noise Pollution case)
SCFR No 38/2005 Decided 9 November 2007 ......................................................35n94
Amit Maru v MoEF Judgment 1 October 2014 ..................................................76, 116n64
Almitra H Patel v Union of India WP(C) No 888 of 1996; Order 15 January 2015 ...........83
Amol v State of Maharashtra Judgment 17 February 2015 .........................................181n26
Anil Hoble v Kashinath Jairam Shetye (2015) SCC Online Bom 3699 ......................118n96
Anil Yadav v State of Bihar (1981) 1 SCC 622 ...................................................................41
Anirudh Kumar v MCD (2015) 7 SCC 779 .................................................................39–40
AP Pollution Control Board v Professor M V Nayudu I (1999) 2 SCC 718 .................54, 58,
.............................................................................................................67n10, 68n17, 209
AP Pollution Control Board v Professor M V Nayudu II (2001) 2 SCC 62 ..................142n8
Ashish Rajanbhai Shah v Union of India Judgment 11 July 2013 ................................117n75
Ashok Gabaji Kajale v M/S Godhavari Bio-Refineries Ltd Judgment 19 May 2015
...............................................................................................................170, 179, 228n47
Asim Sarode v Maharashtra Pollution Control Board NGT Judgment 6 September 2014
...............................................................................................................123, 164, 228n55
B K Patel v MoEF Judgment 13 December 2013 ......................................................116n63
B S Gajendragadkar v Sri Theatre Judgment 22 July 2015 .................................123, 227n28