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NGT slaps ₹1 lakh fine on urban development ministry for non-appearance
NGT slaps ₹1 lakh fine on urban development ministry for non-appearance
New Delhi, The National Green Tribunal has imposed a fine of ₹1 lakh on the Union Ministry of Urban Development for non-appearance in a case, saying the state and its instrumentalities are under constitutional and statutory obligations to ensure compliance with environmental norms.
Earlier, the green body, while hearing a matter regarding a sewage treatment plant being constructed in Uttar Pradesh's Jalaun district, had issued notices to the state of Uttar Pradesh, the Ministry of Urban Development, and the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.
During the proceedings on January 5, a bench of NGT chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava and expert member A Senthil Vel noted that no one had appeared for the urban development ministry despite due service of notice.
“The proceedings before this tribunal cannot be treated as part of adversarial litigation where the concerned defendants may opt to remain absent and suffer ex-parte proceedings," the tribunal said.
It said the Union of India, states and their instrumentalities are under “constitutional and statutory obligations to ensure compliance with environmental norms”, so they had to ensure their representation through duly authorised representatives or counsels before the tribunal.
The tribunal said the ministry’s non-appearance resulted in unnecessary adjournment and delay of an appropriate resolution of the environmental issues involved in the case.
“Such deliberate non-appearance can be remediated only by an order imposing exemplary costs for unnecessary adjournment thereby caused,” the tribunal said.
It provided one more opportunity to the ministry to file its response and ensure representation, subject to the payment of a cost of ₹1 lakh.
“The amount of costs so deposited shall be utilised for providing legal aid to the applicants not represented by any lawyer for effectively presenting their cases before this tribunal and creating facilities for the litigants visiting this tribunal for hearing of cases filed by them,” the green body said.
The matter has been posted for further proceedings on April 10.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
