Natural justice requires disclosure of expert committee reports before reliance by the Tribunal; undisclosed material cannot support adjudication.

The National Green Tribunal, as an adjudicatory body bound by natural justice, cannot rely on an expert committee report without first disclosing it to affected parties and giving them a fair opportunity to object and be heard. Expert reports are only aids to decision-making and do not displace the Tribunal's duty to decide the dispute itself. Here, the recommendations were uploaded only a few days before the impugned order and no effective opportunity to respond was given, so the order was unsustainable for breach of audi alteram partem and was set aside with remand for fresh consideration.

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Issues: Whether the National Green Tribunal could base its directions on an expert committee report without first furnishing the report and recommendations to the affected parties and affording them an opportunity to file objections and be heard.

Analysis: The National Green Tribunal is an adjudicatory body guided by the principles of natural justice under Section 19(1) of the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010. Expert committee reports are only aids to adjudication and do not replace the Tribunal's duty to decide the dispute itself. Where the Tribunal proposes to rely on such material, fairness requires prior disclosure to the parties and a reasonable opportunity to respond. In the present case, the recommendations were uploaded only a few days before the impugned order, and no effective opportunity was given to the appellants to object. The Tribunal therefore relied on undisclosed material and delegated core adjudicatory function in a manner inconsistent with audi alteram partem.

Conclusion: The impugned order was unsustainable for violation of natural justice and was set aside, with the matter remanded to the National Green Tribunal for reconsideration after permitting objections and hearing the parties.

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