'No Court Or Tribunal Or Authority Can Ignore Law Stated By This Court': Supreme Court Criticizes NGT For Stalling Shimla Development Plan

The Supreme Court observed that no Court or Tribunal or any other authority can ignore the law stated by it.

The court criticized the National Green Tribunal (NGT) for stalling the implementation of the draft Development Plan 2041 for Shimla despite pendency of the proceedings before the Himachal Pradesh High Court.

In that context, the Bench of Justice BR Gavai and Justice Aravind Kumar observed that, "no Court or Tribunal and for that matter any other authority can ignore the law stated by this Court. It held that such obedience would also be conducive to their smooth working, otherwise there would be confusion in the administration of law and the respect for law would irretrievably suffer."

In light of the same, it was further stressed that, "predictability and certainty are important hallmarks of judicial jurisprudence developed in this country, as discipline is sine qua non for effective and efficient functioning of the judicial system."

Subsequently, it was held that, "the continuation of the proceedings by the NGT during the pendency of the writ petitions before the High Court was not in conformity with the principles of judicial propriety. Needless to state that the High Court of Himachal Pradesh, insofar as its territorial jurisdiction is concerned, has supervisory jurisdiction over the NGT. Despite pendency of the proceedings before the High Court including the one challenging the interim order...passed by NGT, the NGT went ahead with the passing of the second order impugned herein."

AG Anup Rattan appeared for the State, Senior Counsel Vinay Kuthalia appeared for the Shimla Municipal Corporation and Senior Counsel Sanjay Parikh appeared for the respondent.

In this case, the Court was addressing appeals from the Himachal Pradesh government challenging orders from the National Green Tribunal (NGT). These NGT orders, issued earlier, imposed a ban on all construction activities in environmentally sensitive areas of Shimla.

In November 2017, the NGT issued an order directing the finalization of a new development plan. Following this, committees were established by the NGT to oversee the implementation of its directives.

The NGT, in May 2022, stayed the draft development plan for 22,450 hectares of the Shimla Planning Area, which had been finalized through a notification on April 16, 2022. In response, the State government appealed to the High Court against this interim order.

The Apex Court observed that, "the law declared by the higher court in the State is binding on authorities and tribunals under its superintendence and they cannot ignore it."

In light of the same, it was stressed that on the ground of judicial propriety, the NGT ought not to have continued with the proceedings after the High Court was in seisin of the matter and specifically when it was informed about the same.

Appearance:

State of Himachal Pradesh: Advocate General Anup Rattan

Shimla Municipal Corporation: Senior Counsel Vinay Kuthalia 

Respondent: Senior Counsel Sanjay Parikh 

Cause Title: The State of Himachal Pradesh & Ors. vs Yogendra Mohan Sengupta & Anr.

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