The Supreme Court Tuesday castigated the national green tribunal for imposing fines without seeking a response from an involved party, saying it amounted to violation of the principle of natural justice.
A bench of Justices B R Gavai and CT Ravikumar was hearing a plea alleging that the National Green Tribunal (NGT) imposed a heavy fine on a party without hearing it.
“How are these tribunals functioning, passing orders based only on committee reports, without giving notice to parties? Total violation of principles of natural justice,” the bench observed while taking note of the submissions of senior advocate Ranjit Kumar, appearing for an aggrieved party in a case.
The bench said there were several such instances with the matters ending up before the top court.