Green cases wont be adjourned any more

The changes,both in the structure and method of functioning,are important as the Green Bench is the final judicial word on a number of critical environmental issues from mining rights,forest and national parks conservation to hanging of billboards in public areas. It is traditionally led by the CJI flanked by two judges of his choice. The new Bench has the CJI and Justices Aftab Alam and KS Radhakrishnan.

The CJI kicked off his first day at the helm by making it clear that environmental matters cannot afford to be kept waiting. Some of these matters have been hanging for a long time. There will be no more adjournments. If you are not appearing,tell someone else to come for you, he said.

Besides the Noida Park case,other high-profile environmental matters pending include the fate of mining by the Reddy brothers owned Obulapuram Mining Company,French cement major Lafarges laterite mining operations in Meghalaya and the building of border roads.

Henceforth,the CJI said the Bench would hear only one case at a time. This would allow it to concentrate on the case at hand for the entire court session,instead of having to divide time between five to ten different environment disputes in one court hearing.

We will take up matters one by one, the CJI said. He chose to give top priority to Noida Park case,and decided to hear the dispute first. The SC is hearing about the environmental viability of the project for converting a Noida park into a memorial for late Kanshi Ram. We propose to start with the Noida Park case,then the illegal hoardings case and thirdly the Lafarge mining issue, the CJI said.

The CJI informed that a second Green Bench under Justice Sudershan Reddy would start functioning from July 26,and would convene every Monday. So far,the CJIs Green Bench only sat on Friday afternoons.

Dividing duties between the two Benches,the CJI said his Bench would have the pivotal role of laying down norms on environmental issues whereas Justice Reddys court will see to its implementation.

Justice Reddys Bench would concern itself with matters about tiger reserves,bird sanctuaries and allied issues about animals. Construction and widening of roads,felling of trees,sandalwood smuggling and issuance and renewal of licences for saw mills and veneers are other issues on the second Benchs list.

The CJI cautioned lawyers to desist from mentioning cases out-of-the-blue directly to the Bench,and said applications would be heard only after their degree of urgency is scanned by the court.