The Supreme Court had observed that the adjudicatory functions of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) are ones that cannot be delegated to any administrative expert committees. An expert committee may or may not be able to assist the NGT, for example, by carrying out a particular exercise to find out exact facts, but the adjudication has to be carried out by the NGT. The bench that comprised of Justices Bela M. Trivedi Justices and DY Chandrachud was of the opinion that this is not a delegable function.
Back in July 2014, an Original Application was filed by various environmental organisations and individuals which were limited to mainly the issue of the dumping of unsegregated and untreated Municipal Solid Waste on an open landfill site located in the district of Surat. Many orders were passed in the OA from time to time. The bench while allowing the appeal, observed that the NGT has in the present scenario abdicated its jurisdiction and left it in the hands of the judicial functions to an administrative expert committee.
