The Supreme Court on Tuesday replaced the Uttarakhand Chief Secretary as chairman of an expert committee tasked with overseeing compensatory afforestation and other mitigation measures for the Delhi-Dehradun Economic Corridor Expressway project with the Director-General of Forests, Environment Ministry.
Orally, a Bench led by Justices D.Y. Chandrachud reasoned, “There is no use in burdening the Chief Secretaries of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh with the committee.”
The Supreme court made it plain
The Supreme court made it plain that C.P. Goyal’s replacement as Uttarakhand Chief Secretary should not be interpreted as a vote of no confidence in the senior administrator. It was just a preliminary step to “ensure that a broad understanding is fostered in carrying out the implementation effort.” Anil Prakash Joshi, the founder of Himalayan Environmental Studies and Conservation Organization, and environmentalist Vijay Dhasmana were also added to the panel by the Bench.
Citizens for Green Doon, an NGO, filed a petition against a National Green Tribunal order, which resulted in the order. The green panel had constituted a 12-member expert group, which would be led by the Uttarakhand Chief Secretary and include nominations from the Wildlife Institute of India, the Central Pollution Control Board, the Uttarakhand State Pollution Control Board, and others.
On the Ganeshpur-Dehradun Road (NH-72A) segment, the tribunal approved the expressway project and established a committee to prevent environmental damage caused by unscientific muck disposal or obstruction of the animal corridor. However, the NGO, which was represented by advocate Ritwick Dutta, requested independent members of the panel with knowledge of wildlife mitigation mechanisms.
The government decided to include independent experts in the committee based on the court’s recommendation and in the spirit of the case. In the order, the court stated that this should not be used as a precedent in other outstanding cases.