The National Green Tribunal Act, 2010- Scope (sec 3-13), Jurisdiction, Powers and Proceedings of the Tribunal (sec 14-25), Penal Provisions (26-28)

A factory upstream of your society's borewell starts discharging something that turns the water cloudy. Filing a civil suit in an ordinary court means years of delay and a judge with no training in chemistry. Parliament's answer in 2010 was a specialist tribunal, with judges and scientists sitting together, told to decide cases within six months. How is that tribunal built, what can it hear, and what happens to a polluter who ignores its order?

In two minutes

The National Green Tribunal Act 2010 creates a mixed judicial-and-expert body that hears civil environmental disputes arising under seven listed Acts, awards relief and restitution on a no-fault basis, applies sustainable development, precaution and polluter-pays, and punishes non-compliance with its orders.

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