Subject: GS 2
Syllabus: Appointment to various Constitutional posts, powers, functions and responsibilities of various Constitutional Bodies. Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies.
Questions
- Environmental protection is gaining currency in recent decades and the National Green Tribunal is mandated to play a vital role. Discuss the role and list the issues faced by it in fulfilling its mandate. (150 Words, 10 Marks)
- Quasi-judicial bodies are important organs of governance. Explain their role and features. Also discuss the issues associated with them. (250 Words, 15 Marks)
Model Structure
1. Environmental protection is gaining currency in recent decades and the National Green Tribunal is mandated to play a vital role. Discuss the role and list the issues faced by it in fulfilling its mandate. (150 Words, 10 Marks)
Model Structure
Introduction
- National Green Tribunal is a quasi-judicial body dealing with matters related to the environment conservation and protection. It was established in 2010 under the National Green Tribunal Act for enforcing laws related to the environment and to grant relief to persons in case of damage to the environment.
Main Body
- India became the third country to have a dedicated tribunal for environment related issues giving mandate to the National Green Tribunal like-
- It has the powers of civil court and is not bound by the Code of Civil Procedure but follows principles of natural justice.
- Environmental clearances for any activity or projects by the government come under the jurisdiction of National Green Tribunal.
- Enforces legal rights and rectifies any wrongdoing, which includes aspects related to the environment.
- Dispose appeals and applications within 6 months of filing and recommend policies for environment protection.
- But even with this mandate and few powers, it has not been able to function in an efficient manner due to reasons like-
- The National Green Tribunal has many times invoked a deadline clause on the basis of technicality to dispose of petitions without any solution. This was done 11 times in 2020.
- There is a lack of expertise and most of the appointments are from the judiciary rather than people with domain expertise.
- Accessibility is another factor due to less regional benches and environment exploitation takes place in the length and breadth of the country.
- Vacancy is another issue as since its creation, it has never worked in full capacity. This adds to delays and pendency of cases.
- Many times the NGT has failed to fulfill merits based review criteria. This was pointed out by the Supreme Court in the Mopa airport case.
Conclusion
- The NGT has better track record than other courts in concluding environment related cases but to achieve its full potential, the issues of vacancies and pendency needs to be addressed. Also, appointments must be from domain experts rather than generalists.
2. Quasi-judicial bodies are important organs of governance. Explain their role and features. Also discuss the issues associated with them. (250 Words, 15 Marks)
Model Structure
Introduction:
- Quasi-judicial bodies have functions similar to a court of law or a tribunal but they themselves are not part of the judicial hierarchy. Their powers are limited to specific areas of operation like administration, financial market, minorities etc.
Main body:
- They are important in governance because-
- These bodies do not follow conventional lengthy procedures of jurisprudence and thus make the process simple to understand.
- Lessen caseload on the judiciary and help address the issue of case pendency.
- Purpose of justice upheld as the public are hesitant to approach courts for want of time and money. But in the case of quasi-judicial bodies, better access and affordable justice make it easy for aggrieved citizens.
- They are manned by experts rather than generalists thus making the process expeditious.
- Their role and features include-
- They are created for a specific purpose, making them ‘issue specific’. Eg- Central Administrative Tribunal, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Election Commission etc.
- Their nature can be different. For instance, the Finance Commission is a constitutional body, SEBI is a regulatory body and NHRC is a statutory body.
- They can include subject experts also apart from judges allowing for technical expertise.
- Their decisions are subject to judicial review.
- They are affordable, accessible and more effective for the common man.
- Issues involved-
- Vacancies are a major issue of these bodies which delays decision making.
- Pendency of cases seen in tribunals is also due to the large volume of false cases.
- Provision of making available free legal aid for weaker parties, not provided for like in NALSA, making the process disadvantageous.
- Independence of these bodies is an issue as many appointments are at the sole discretion of the executive.
- Most of the bodies are recommendatory in nature like NHRC and have no power to punish. They lack an enforcement mechanism and have no power to even enforce award compensation.
Conclusion:
- Formed to reduce the burden on the judiciary, they are now themselves subject to vacancies and a high case burden. It is time to bring in laws to allow transparent appointment processes and reduce vacancies which will expedite the disposal of cases.
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