CHENNAI: Observing that the central government has been establishing tribunals to deal with issues pertaining to tax, banking, consumer complaints, environment and various other matters because judges are not experts, the Madras High Court queried how then bureaucrats who are not experts can be appointed to such specialised bodies.
The First Bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy made the observations on the plea moved by Poovulagin Nanbargal, an NGO, challenging the appointment of former chief secretary of Tamil Nadu Girija Vaidyanathan as an expert member of the National Green Tribunal (NGT). The court in an interim order last week stayed her appointment.
According to the petitioner, G Sundarrajan, the National Green Tribunal Act mandates a person to have administrative experience of 15 years, including experience of five years in dealing with environmental matters in the central or State government level. But in violation of the provision, Girija has been appointed to the post, he alleged.
The Bench in its hearing on Friday raised questions on the expertise required for a member of the NGT. “Experience in environmental matters is an all-embracing term that if an officer is involved in an ancillary capacity in a related post, every other bureaucrat would become eligible to be appointed as Expert Member of the National Green Tribunal.” The counsel for the central government, however, stated that Girija held various administrative positions that involved several issues dealing with the environment. The Bench adjourned the plea to Monday for the Centre to file additional affidavits in the plea.