Why in news:
Observing that all five zonal Benches of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) are equally powerful and their orders are applicable across India, the Madras High Court disapproved of a 2017 Central notification, which terms the north zone Bench in Delhi as the Principal Bench.

• The orders were passed on a writ petition filed by an environmental activist against a decision taken by the south zone Bench to transfer his case to the Principal Bench in Delhi, since orders to be passed would have a pan-India effect.

• Though in the 2017 central notification, the north zone Bench in Delhi is called the Principal Bench, it is prima facie contrary to the NGT Act, 2010, as the latter does not speak about any Principal Bench.

• Vesting of power only with the Bench in Delhi is not contemplated anywhere in the statute, even though power is actually concentrated in Delhi.

• The decision taken by any Bench of the NGT will have a pan-India effect, and it cannot be said that only if the issue is decided by Delhi, it will have a pan-India effect.

• Rationale behind the establishment of zonal benches: The country was divided into five zones — north, west, central, south and east — and one Bench of the NGT was established for each of them, with territorial jurisdiction over specified States, only for the convenience of litigants residing in the zones.

► The jurisdiction of every Bench has been distinctly given, and it is only to enable citizens to approach the forum constituted in their zone and not to make them travel to Delhi, spending huge amounts of money, which is not possible for everyone for each and every issue.

• If such a procedure of transferring cases to Delhi is adopted, it will amount to denying access to justice as is being done in other matters.

National Green Tribunal The National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 (Statutory body) is an Act of the Parliament of India which enables creation of a special tribunal to handle the expeditious disposal of the cases pertaining to environmental issues.  It draws inspiration from the India's constitutional provision of (Constitution of India/Part III) Article 21 Protection of life and personal liberty, which assures the citizens of India the right to a healthy environment.  Additionally, the Tribunal is not bound by procedure under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 or the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 and is guided by principles of natural justice.  However, the Tribunal is vested with the powers of a civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure for discharging its functions.  The tribunal is mandated to make and endeavour for disposal of applications or appeals finally within 6 months of filing of the same.  New Delhi is the Principal Place of Sitting of the Tribunal and Bhopal, Pune, Kolkata and Chennai shall be the other four places of sitting of the Tribunal.

Source: The Hindu