<p>The quasi-judicial body will have judicial and technical members and hear disputes related to environmental abuse and violation of the Environmental Protection Act.<br />Examples of Environmental Protection Act violation cases include destruction of the environment, polluting river and lake waters, cutting down forests and allowing illegal mining. <br /><br />A cabinet note on the formation of the National Green Tribunal is being discussed by various ministries, environment minister Jairam Ramesh said on Friday. <br />It will go to Parliament after the Cabinet approval as a new law would be needed to set up a tribunal.<br /><br />On the lines of CAT<br />The National Green Tribunal would function in the same line as the Central Administrative Tribunal and its decisions could be challenged only in the Supreme Court, said Jairam Ramesh.<br /><br />Only civil matters will come under the ambit of the NGT. The criminal cases, if there are any, will be tried in regular courts.<br />However, environmental clearances given to various projects by the union ministry cannot be challenged in the NGT. For that, a separate body – national environment appellate authority – is already in place.<br /><br />Additional powers<br />The new tribunal will have more power and authority as compared to an existing tribunal which deals only with hazardous substances. <br />The ministry is in the process of creating a new environment protection authority to strictly monitor violation of environmental laws.<br /> A national Ganga river basin authority with Rs 1,000 crore corpus is also in the offing.<br /></p>
<p>The quasi-judicial body will have judicial and technical members and hear disputes related to environmental abuse and violation of the Environmental Protection Act.<br />Examples of Environmental Protection Act violation cases include destruction of the environment, polluting river and lake waters, cutting down forests and allowing illegal mining. <br /><br />A cabinet note on the formation of the National Green Tribunal is being discussed by various ministries, environment minister Jairam Ramesh said on Friday. <br />It will go to Parliament after the Cabinet approval as a new law would be needed to set up a tribunal.<br /><br />On the lines of CAT<br />The National Green Tribunal would function in the same line as the Central Administrative Tribunal and its decisions could be challenged only in the Supreme Court, said Jairam Ramesh.<br /><br />Only civil matters will come under the ambit of the NGT. The criminal cases, if there are any, will be tried in regular courts.<br />However, environmental clearances given to various projects by the union ministry cannot be challenged in the NGT. For that, a separate body – national environment appellate authority – is already in place.<br /><br />Additional powers<br />The new tribunal will have more power and authority as compared to an existing tribunal which deals only with hazardous substances. <br />The ministry is in the process of creating a new environment protection authority to strictly monitor violation of environmental laws.<br /> A national Ganga river basin authority with Rs 1,000 crore corpus is also in the offing.<br /></p>
