The National Green Tribunal has been established in 2010 under the National Green Tribunal Act 2010 for effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental protection and conservation of forests and other natural resources including enforcement of any legal right relating to environment and giving relief and compensation for damages to persons and property and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. It is a specialized body equipped with the necessary expertise to handle environmental disputes involving multi-disciplinary issues.

Functioning and composition of NGT:

The Principal Bench of the NGT has been established in the National Capital – New Delhi, with regional benches in Pune (Western Zone Bench), Bhopal (Central Zone Bench), Chennai (Southern Bench) and Kolkata (Eastern Bench).Each Bench has a specified geographical jurisdiction covering several States in a region. There is also a mechanism for circuit benches.
The Chairperson of the NGT is a retired Judge of the Supreme Court, Head Quartered in Delhi. Other Judicial members are retired Judges of High Courts.
Each bench of the NGT will comprise of at least one Judicial Member and one Expert Member.
Expert members should have a professional qualification and a minimum of 15 years experience in the field of environment/forest conservation and related subjects.
The NGT has the power to hear all civil cases relating to environmental issues and questions that are linked to the implementation of laws listed in Schedule I of the NGT Act. These include the following: a) The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 ; b) The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Cess Act, 1977 ; c) The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980; d) The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 ; e) The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 ; f) The Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991; g) The Biological Diversity Act, 2002.

Principles of Justice adopted by NGT:

The NGT is not bound by the procedure laid down under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, but shall be guided by principles of natural justice.
NGT is also not bound by the rules of evidence as enshrined in the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. Thus, it will be relatively easier for conservation groups to present facts and issues before the NGT, including pointing out technical flaws in a project, or proposing alternatives that could minimize environmental damage but which have not been considered.
While passing Orders/decisions/awards, the NGT will apply the principles of sustainable development, the precautionary principle and the polluter pays principles.

Analysis:

• The NGT has made some remarkable decisions during the short time it has been in existence. Only last month, in a landmark judgement, the Kochi circuit bench of the NGT banned all diesel vehicles more than 10 years old from operating in six cities in Kerala (now indefinitely stayed by the Kerala high court). This follows a similar decision made for diesel cars in the Delhi region last year. It is expected to extend this to 15 major Indian cities with the worst air quality levels later this year. The NGT has also passed various prohibitory orders against sand mining in riverbeds that is being done without environmental clearance. It has imposed a no-construction zone of 75 metres around lakes and rajakaluves (stormwater drains) in Bengaluru.
• Ever since the National Green Tribunal (NGT) was first notified in October 2010 to begin operations under the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010, it has been in the news for all the wrong reasons, be it judges quitting for lack of resources or the tribunal being challenged for lack of judicial independence from the Government. 
• The NGT has not been vested with powers to hear any matter relating to the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, the Indian Forest Act, 1927 and various laws enacted by States relating to forests, tree preservation etc. Therefore, specific and substantial issues related to these laws cannot be raised before the NGT.
• In order to further strengthen NGT, There should be appropriate responses to environmental litigations, the government should lay down guidelines for the effective exercise of powers by the NGT. The decisions of the Tribunal and expert groups should be respected and implemented by all other government departments.
• There should also be stringent guidelines in place for the appointment of expert members to the Tribunal based on the suggestions of different environmental groups, legal experts, judges, and academics. The entire process should be transparent and amenable to public scrutiny and review by judicial bodies and experts from different backgrounds, including scientists, technicians, judges and NGOs.
• In order to be able to entertain petitions and prevent frivolous environmental litigations, the National Green Tribunal should be equipped with all the resources required for scrutinizing and reviewing petitions and investigating the intentions of petitioners who seek its attention.
• Its function should be more transparent than the Supreme Court’s in environmental cases. More importantly, the procedures of PIL should be institutionalized with guidelines in place for emphasizing the conditions under which the tribunal can entertain or reject a petition seeking its attention.
• Given the present composition of the NGT, it is very difficult on its part to monitor its directions in each and every case. In order to implement NGT’s directions effectively, it is necessary to make the implementation process more efficient through the marshalling of agencies responsible for the control of pollution, such as local government bodies and pollution control boards.
• The legal framework also needs to be comprehensive and suitably designed for objective interpretation of environmental laws and policies. There is a plethora of legislations on environmental issues in India but many of them date back to the pre-independence era and do not correspond to the policies or realities of the post-independence period. As a result, they need to be reviewed and consolidated.
• Many areas of environmental concern, including noise pollution and radioactive waste proliferation, are inadequately covered under existing legislations and need to be addressed by updated legislation. Environmental impact assessment and industrial zoning must also be provided with adequate legal support.
• There is also need to open more Green tribunal benches in India . Till now it has only five benches—mainly in cities and under the NGT Act—and no other courts can entertain any environmental litigation. For a country the size of India, just five benches serve little purpose. At the very least, India needs district level forums, especially since access to justice is already such a big problem for the underprivileged.
• Political and economic institutions that are trusted and perform well are the necessary foundation for a democratic society to grow and prosper. The more such institutions we create and nurture, the better our chances of creating a prosperous and fair society.