On Tuesday, October 18, 2022, the Supreme Court's division bench, comprised of Justices B.R. Gavai and B.V. Nagarathna issued notice in a petition filed by the National Green Tribunal challenging a Bombay High Court order quashing administrative orders issued by the Registrar General of the NGT transferring cases from the Western Zone Bench in Pune to Special Benches at the Principal Seat in New Delhi.

Senior Advocate Arvind P. Datar on behalf of NGT argued that the High Court's decision will have pan-India implications because the notices have been quashed in their entirety. This means that transfers from other Zonal Benches to Delhi will be affected as well, not just transfers from the Western Zone Bench.

Taking this into consideration, the Supreme Court stayed the operative portion of the contested judgement, which reads as "Rule is made absolute in terms of prayer clause (a). All five impugned notices dated 6th September 2021, 4th January 2022, 11th April 2022, 27th April 2022 and 26th August 2022 are quashed and set aside. The constitution of the Special Bench seated in New Delhi is illegal. Only the Members of the Western Zonal Bench can hear matters pertaining to the Western Zonal Bench, including matters arising from Goa and Maharashtra."

The Supreme Court, however, clarified that because the Western Zone Bench now has two members, one judicial and one expert, all matters pertaining to the Western Zone, including those arising out of the states of Goa and Maharashtra, will be heard by the Pune Bench sitting in Pune.

Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave also testified on behalf of the NGT. Senior Advocate Indira Jaising appeared for the NGO "The Goa Foundation", which challenged the transfer of cases from the Western Zone to Delhi in the Bombay High Court.

The Tribunal's lawyers informed the bench that the transfer orders were issued due to the unfilled vacancies at the regional benches. In its 41-page judgement on September 21, 2022, the High Court's three-judge bench affirmed the view taken by a division bench of the Bombay High Court in an October 2017 judgement. The High Court recommended in Suo Motu Writ Petition No. 1 of 2017 that the authorities consider a proposal to establish a circuit bench in Panaji, Goa.

Case Details:-

SLP(C) No. 17931/2022

NGT And Anr. v. Goa Foundation And Ors.