Panaji: Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Wednesday came down heavily on the functioning of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), claiming that it was stepping out of its jurisdiction and has started acting like a high court.
Parrikar told a press conference that during a meeting with union Environment and Forests Minister (MoEF) Prakash Javdekar earlier this week, he complained about the functioning of the NGT and urged him to streamline the tribunal's functioning.
"The NGT is not acting like a tribunal, it is acting like a high court...I have taken up the issue of blanket judgments (issued by the NGT) with the minister," he said. The Chief Minister has in the past complained vociferously about the NGT, which was formed by an act of parliament in 2010 for effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental protection, conservation of forests and other natural resources.
The protest against the NGT was shrillest after the tribunal's nationwide ban on sand mining. Parrikar in 2010 called the NGT order banning sand mining across India, a case of "judicial over-reach".
"The order is a case of (judicial) over-reach. Everyone knows the order is not implemented. It (the order) has resulted in rise of prices and black marketing of sand...We are losing out on revenue," Parrikar had said.
The Chief Minister has also said the state could not "afford" to send its officers to the NGT bench in Pune and Delhi time and again to attend proceedings. "I cannot afford it. The officers have to go to Pune and Delhi all the time for hearings...I have demanded for an NGT bench in the state itself," Parrikar said.
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