AI OCR 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2022 (1) TMI 1507
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....affected by the degradation of the environment in the area in question. The OA pertained to the issue of the dumping of unsegregated and untreated Municipal Solid Waste [MSW] at an open landfill site admeasuring 188 hectares at Survey No 111 /A, Block No 177, Khajod Village, Taluka Choryasi in the district of Surat, which is surrounded by thirty-five villages. The landfill site had been set up by the fourth respondent, Surat Municipal Corporation [SMC], which had started dumping 850 Metric Tonnes of waste per day on 24 January 2003. The extent of dumping increased to 1600 Metric Tonnes of waste per day by 16 January 2014. It was alleged, inter alia, that the dumping of waste in the open area without prior treatment was in violation of the Municipal Solid Waste (Handling and Management) Rules 2000 and Bio Medical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules 1998. Further, while SMC had been issued multiple warnings during site visits and inspections, the situation did not improve. It was alleged that the waste disposal led to an irreversible contamination of local water bodies and ground water, caused severe air pollution due to the burning of waste, damaged the ecology of the nearby villa....
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.... of the Khajod dumping site was pending before the Standing Committee of SMC. Hence, the NGT directed the Standing Committee to take a decision and issue a work order for commencing the work of the closure of the open dumping site within a month. Moreover, SMC was directed to place on the record the details of the lands where the projects are to be commissioned; (v) On 19 September 2017, a statement was made on behalf of SMC that it is under an obligation to comply with the SWM Rules and that the site at Khajod is designated for a landfill, an MSW processing plant and a waste-to-energy plant of 100 TPD on a public-private partnership basis; (vi) Pursuant to the order of the NGT dated 19 September 2017, the appellants formulated certain action points for implementation of the SWM Rules. On 26 September 2017, an undertaking was filed on behalf of SMC by the Municipal Commissioner setting out the steps which would be taken for dealing with MSW, transportation, storage, and processing as well as on other related matters. The undertaking stipulated that there shall be no landfilling or dumping of unprocessed and unsegregated MSW after two years subject to "100% working....
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....d by the NGT is extracted below: "As this OA relates to implementation of Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, we are of the considered opinion that it is covered by the order passed by the larger Bench of the Tribunal dated 20th August, 2018 in OA No 606 of 2018. The Applicant would be at liberty to represent its case and ventilate all grievance before the Committee which shall look into it and finally decide the same. Consequently, OA No 81 of 2014 stands disposed of. There shall be no order as to cost. M.A. No. 1392 of 2018 and 1393 of 2018 These Applications do not survive for consideration as the main Application has been decided and are accordingly dismissed." 7 At this juncture, it is also important to elaborate on NGT's judgment and order dated 31 August 2018 in OA No 606 of 2018. Those proceedings arose from writ petitions filed before this Court in relation to the proper implementation of SWM Rules across the country, which were later transferred to the NGT. The NGT noted in its decision that though it had earlier issued directions for the implementation of the SWM Rules, they had not been complied with. Later, in a meet....
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....ed in the public domain. The NGT directed that the Committees would be at liberty to issue directions for execution of the orders of the NGT to any authority. 8 Ms Shilpa Chohan, learned Counsel appearing on behalf of the appellants, has submitted that relegating the appellants to a committee was wholly inappropriate having regard to the progress which had been achieved by the Western Zone Bench of the NGT in unravelling various aspects of the case. Moreover, it is urged that the jurisdiction to provide restitution and award compensation is entrusted to the NGT and hence, it was not appropriate or proper to dispose of the OA by relegating the decision to a committee. 9 On the other hand, Mr Tejas Patel, learned Counsel appearing on behalf of SMC, submits that the appellants have produced absolutely no material on the basis of which a claim for compensation can be made. Moreover, it was urged that they have a remedy of ventilating their grievances before the appropriate committee. 10 The OA was filed by the appellants under Sections 14 and 15 of the NGT Act. Section 14^[1] of the NGT Act vests the NGT with jurisdiction over all civil cases where a substantial question re....
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....e role of such committees which are set up by courts and tribunals alike. 14 It is first important to differentiate expert committees which are set by the courts/tribunals from those set up by the Government in exercise of executive powers or under a particular statute. The latter are set up due to their technical expertise in a given area, and their reports are, subject to judicially observed restraints, open to judicial review before courts when decisions are taken solely based upon them. The precedents of this court unanimously note that courts should be circumspect in rejecting the opinion of these committees, unless they find their decision to be manifestly arbitrary or mala fide [Basavaiah (Dr.) v. Dr. H.L. Ramesh, (2010) 8 SCC 372 (in relation to appointment in an academic institution); State of Kerala v. RDS Project Ltd., (2020) 9 SCC 108 (in relation to safety of a flyover project)] On the other hand, courts/tribunals themselves set up expert committees on occasion. These committees are set up because the fact-finding exercise in many matters can be complex, technical and time-consuming, and may often require the committees to conduct field visits. These committees are ....
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....ourts and tribunals cannot be hived off to administrative committees. In Sanghar Zuber Ismail v. Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change and Another [2021 SCC OnLine SC 669], a three-Judge Bench of this Court noted that the NGT cannot refuse to hear a challenge to an Environmental Clearance under Section 16(h) of the NGT Act and delegate the process of adjudicating on compliance to an expert committee. The Court held: "8...the NGT has not dealt with the substantive grounds of challenge in the exercise of its appellate jurisdiction. Constitution of an expert committee does not absolve the NGT of its duty to adjudicate. The adjudicatory function of the NGT cannot be assigned to committees, even expert committees. The decision has to be that of the NGT. The NGT has been constituted as an expert adjudicatory authority under an Act of Parliament. The discharge of its functions cannot be obviated by tasking committees to carry out a function which vests in the tribunal." 17 The NGT has in the present case abdicated its jurisdiction and entrusted judicial functions to an administrative expert committee. An expert committee may be able to assist the NGT, for instanc....