New Delhi: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs of India for non-appearance in a case, reported PTI.
Justifying the fine, NGT said the state and its instrumentalities are under constitutional and statutory obligations to ensure compliance with environmental norms.
Earlier, NGT had issued notices to the state of Uttar Pradesh, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, and the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation while hearing a matter regarding a sewage treatment plant being constructed in Uttar Pradesh’s Jalaun district.
A bench of NGT chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava and expert member A Senthil Vel noted during the proceedings on January 5 that no one had appeared for the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs despite due service of notice.
“The proceedings before this tribunal cannot be treated as part of adversarial litigation where the concerned defendants may opt to remain absent and suffer ex-parte proceedings,” the tribunal said.
“The Union of India, states and their instrumentalities are under constitutional and statutory obligations to ensure compliance with environmental norms”, and hence they had to ensure their representation through duly authorised representatives or counsels before the tribunal.
The ministry’s non-appearance resulted in unnecessary adjournment and delay of an appropriate resolution of the environmental issues involved in the case, the tribunal observed.
“Such deliberate non-appearance can be remediated only by an order imposing exemplary costs for unnecessary adjournment thereby caused,” the tribunal said.
The tribunal gave the ministry one more opportunity to file its response and ensure representation, subject to the payment of Rs 1 lakh.
“The amount of costs so deposited shall be utilised for providing legal aid to the applicants not represented by any lawyer for effectively presenting their cases before this tribunal and creating facilities for the litigants visiting this tribunal for hearing of cases filed by them,” the green body said.
The matter has been posted for further proceedings on April 10.
