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Sarv Jan Kalyan Sewa Samiti v. Union of India & Ors.

Civil Appeal · 2019 INSC 541Decided 16 Apr 2019
Civil Appeal No. 3571 of 2019
Dr. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud · Justice Hemant Gupta

Background

The appellant, a welfare society, had earlier challenged an order of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) before the Supreme Court; on 8 February 2019 the Supreme Court disposed of that appeal, clarifying that the NGT proceedings were still pending and the appellant remained free to raise its objections there. Misreading the Supreme Court's order, the NGT then, on 11 February 2019, closed the entire pending application without letting the appellant raise any objections to a proposed land exchange involving forest land. The society again approached the Supreme Court, arguing it had been completely shut out from the NGT process.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court found that the NGT had acted only on being informed of the "crux" of the Supreme Court's 8 February 2019 order, without waiting for or properly reading the actual order, which had expressly preserved the appellant's right to pursue its objections in the still-pending proceedings. The Court held the NGT's approach of shutting out the appellant's objections while closing the case was "indefensible" and that the NGT was duty-bound to follow the Supreme Court's earlier order. It allowed the appeal, set aside the NGT's 11 February 2019 order in its entirety, and restored the original application to the NGT's file for the appellant's objections to be considered.

Lesson Learnt

Tribunals and lower courts must read and follow the actual text of a higher court's order, not act on a second-hand summary of it, and a litigant whose right to be heard is wrongly closed off can get that right restored by approaching the higher court again.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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