Aarohi Girish Dhumale
On 20th August, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) reserved its order on a plea which sought transfer of a case from a Bench of Justice Sudhir Agarwal. This plea was heard by Justice Sudhir Agarwal and Dr. Afroz Ahmad.
Advocate Gaurav Kumar Bansal, who practices at the NGT’s Principal Bench, had made a request in an application before the bench of Justice Sudhir Agarwal. This plea arose out of a matter regarding water pollution in Ludhiana. Advocate Bansal filed this application due to concern regarding the appointment of Advocate Gaurav Agarwal, who is the son of Justice Sudhir Agarwal, as an amicus curiae in multiple NGT cases despite not practicing regularly at the NGT.
This application said that Advocate Agarwal isn’t experienced in environmental law and also questioned as to why Justice Agarwal hadn’t recused himself from this case. Concerns were also raised regarding delay in proceedings.
It was also mentioned that the complaints had been raised to Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava about the delayed start of the proceedings due to the late arrival of Justice Agarwal, but no measures had been taken to address the same.
The Bench reserved the order to be pronounced on 20th September, 2024.
Case Name: Naveen Kumar vs. Union of India
Case Number: Original Application No. 820/2022 ( IA NO 237/2024 )
Bench: Justice Sudhir Agarwal and Dr. Afroz Ahmad