DINESH KUMAR MAHESHWARI Vs. UOI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) LEARNED counsels for the parties submit that identical writ petitions have already been transferred by the Division Bench of this Court upon a reference made by this Court to National Green Tribunal under the provisions of the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 and they further submit that the present writ petitions may also be transferred to the National Green Tribunal in terms of the Division Bench order of this Court dated 01.10.2013 in a batch of 58 writ petitions viz. D.B.Civil Writ Petition No.8074/2010 ­ M/s Laxmi Suiting vs. State of Rajasthan & Ors. and other connected writ petition, the operative portion of which is reproduced hereunder:

(2.) THE reliefs grantable by the learned Tribunal and enlisted in Section 15 are also couched in compendious terms with adequate discretion to the learned Tribunal to mould the same within the framework thereof. The reliefs contained in clauses (a), (b) and (c) of Section 15 (1) therefore do not admit of literal interpretation to circumvent the otherwise intended wide ambit thereof.

(3.) TO reiterate, the Act has been given an over - riding effect. Though the same per se would not oust the jurisdiction of the superior courts contemplated by the Constitution of India, the plea of inadequacy or inefficacy of the remedy provided by the Act does not weigh with us. The reference of Articles 323A and 323B of the Constitution of India and the enactments made thereunder ipso facto also do not, in our estimate, outweigh the otherwise unmistakable edict of the Act and the inbuilt exclusion of the jurisdiction of the civil courts in matters within the purview of the learned Tribunal for its adjudication. The contention that this Court is beyond the concept of civil court and thus, the provisions of the Act do not apply to the proceeding under Article 226 of the Constitution of India is to be recorded only to be rejected. There is no repugnance or conflict between the provisions of the Act and the jurisdiction of the learned Tribunal outlined thereby with that of the superior courts under the Constitution of India. No ouster of the writ jurisdiction of this Court as well is either conceived of or intended. This, however, does not detract from the necessity of transfer of the proceedings also under Article 226 of the Constitution of India to the learned Tribunal in view of the avowed mission of the Act and for the settlement of disputes relating to environment with suitable reliefs as a corollary thereof.