CIC: Information relating to appointment of Green Tribunal members to be disclosed
11 Jan, 2013An application was filed with the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) under the Right to Information seeking to the details concerning the approval of Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) to appoint the expert members to the National Green Tribunal.
The PMO transferred the case to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) which according to the applicant was an unnecessary step since the proposal for the appointments were already sent to the Prime Minister as the chairman of ACC. The Chief Information Commissioner Satyananda Mishra contended that as the establishment officer in DoPT holds all records on behalf of ACC, the transfer of the case was not entirely wrong. Stating this, the CIC has directed the government to disclose the information about the appointment of members of the tribunal to the applicant.
The Green Tribunal was set up in 2010 under Article 21 of the Constitution, which assures the citizens the right to a healthy environment. The tribunal includes four expert and two judicial members and is a fast-track court to specially handle cases pertaining to environmental issues.