NGT warns Ayodhya authorities of prosecution for 'defying' its order

New Delhi: The National Green Tribunal has warned the district magistrate (DM) and regional forest officer in Ayodhya of prosecution for reportedly changing the members of a joint committee it had constituted.

A bench comprising NGT chairperson Justice (retired) Prakash Shrivastava, judicial member Justice (retired) Sudhir Agarwal and expert member Afroz Ahmad observed both officials had acted in "sheer defiance" of the tribunal’s directions and appointed other persons to the committee.

The green body was hearing a case over the proposed construction of a rest house, which involved felling of 300 mango trees in an orchard in Sharwa Uparhar village, Faizabad Tehsil in Ayodhya district.

In September, the tribunal had formed a joint committee comprising the DM, the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board and the regional forest officer. It had directed the committee to submit a report within a month.

In its order dated October 16, the bench noted the panel's report, which showed several persons were made its members without being appointed by the tribunal which was "totally unauthorised." "Neither the DM nor the regional forest officer was authorised to nominate anybody in their place and they had no authority to change the constitution of the committee. This act on their part is nothing but sheer defiance and non-compliance with the tribunal's order which is an offence under Section 26 of the NGT Act, 2010 and for such an offence both the officers are liable to be prosecuted," it held.

Section 26 deals with the penalties for not following the tribunal’s directions, orders, decisions or awards.

The tribunal, however, clarified before any such action it would be appropriate to direct the DM and the regional forest officer to appear before the tribunal on November 6 to explain their position on changing the committee's constitution when no power of delegation was conferred upon them.