Baghjan blowout case: Supreme Court constitutes new committee

 Apex Court nullifies committee of NGT

OUR CORRESPONDENT

TINSUKIA: The Supreme Court of India constituted a new five-member committee headed by former Gauhati High Court Judge Justice BP Katakey in the Baghjan blowout case on Thursday. The apex court nullified the committee constituted earlier by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in February this year.

The new committee will assess the damage and restoration of Dibru-Saikhowa National Park (DSNP) and Maguri-Motapung Wetland, even as OIL objected to the appointment of Justice Katakey as chairperson of the reconstituted committee.

The court also directed OIL to deposit Rs 50 lakh for the expenses of the newly constituted panel.

The bench comprising Justices DY Chandrachud, Vikram Nath and Hima Kohli was considering an appeal by Bonani Kakkar against the inclusion of OIL Managing Director as one of the members in the ten-member committee, out of three committees constituted by the NGT on February 19, 2021, to access the damage and restoration to DSNP and Maguri-Motapung Wetland.

The bench also did not entertain the objections raised by ASG Aman Lekhi for OIL to the reinstatement of Justice Katakey as chairperson. The bench maintained that 'since Justice (retd) Katakey has already conducted a fair amount of work according to the task entrusted by the NGT, there is no reason why the committee should not have the benefit of the work done with his expertise'.

In the course of the hearing, when the advocate appearing for OIL sought to suggest committee members, Justice Chandrachud stated, "Why would we take your suggestion?"

While passing the order, the bench observed, "We are of the considered view that the committee constituted by the NGT needs to be reconstituted. The NGT has constituted a large committee consisting of ten members. Such a large committee in the first place may find it difficult to convene at relatively short intervals, something which is necessary to ensure the work of taking remedial measures is taken up with all expedition."

The bench further observed, "The green panel has directed that the Chief Secretary of Assam would be the chairperson of the ten-member committee but considering the onerous responsibility which is entrusted to the office of Chief Secretary, we are of the view that it would not be appropriate to task the Chief Secretary personally in taking up this task, which is more or less of adjudicatory nature combining expert domain knowledge of issues about environmental concerns."

The bench said, "We are of the view that it is inappropriate for the NGT to direct the presence of the Managing Director of OIL as a member of the committee. The presence of the representative of OIL would lead to a serious conflict of interest and would not contribute to the fairness of the process."

The bench said that other members of the committee would be Ritesh Kumar, Director of Wetland International, South Asia, GS Dang, former deputy director, Indian Institute of Petroleum, Dehradun, Qamar Qureshi, Professor, Wildlife Institute of India, and Bedanta Bordoloi. The Court asked the committee to take up the work at its earlier convenience and to endeavour to submit its report within three months. The committee shall be at liberty to make an interim determination of the damage so that a suitable direction can be issued for OIL to deposit the amount, the bench added.

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