T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad v. Union of India & Ors.

Case Details & Bench

Court: High Court
Hon'ble Judges: K. G. Balakrishnan
Dr. Arijit Pasayat
S. H. Kapadia
Judgment Date: 2008-02-21
Court Decision / Holding: The Court considered the suggestions of the Solicitor General and Amicus Curiae regarding the constitution of the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) and issued specific directions for its composition. The CEC was ordered to comprise seven members: (1) P.V. Jayakrishnan, Chairman; (2) P.R. Mohanty, Director General of Forests, MoEF; (3) M.K. Jiwrajka, Member Secretary; (4) S.K. Patnaik; (5) Dr. M.K. Muttoo; (6) Mahendar Vyas; (7) Sanjeev Chaddha (Deputy Secretary). Shri M.K. Jiwrajka is on deputation as of the date of the order, continuing until 31.3.2009. The term of office of the CEC would be three years or until further orders, whichever is earlier. The interlocutory application was disposed of. This order formalizes the mechanism for monitoring and enforcing environmental safeguards in forests, National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries, and regulation of wood-based industries across the country.
Final Disposition: Interlocutory application disposed of; order regarding composition and tenure of the Central Empowered Committee (CEC).

Parties to the Case

Appellants / Petitioners

T. N. Godavarman Thirumulpad

Respondents

Union of India and Others

Case Synopsis & Summary

T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad v. Union of India & Ors. addresses the ongoing framework for environmental governance under the Environment Protection Act, 1986, focusing on the establishment and operation of the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) to monitor and regulate forest resources, illegal felling, and mining within protected areas such as National Parks and Wildlife Sanctaries, as well as the regulation of wood-based industries. In this interlocutory matter, the Supreme Court considered suggestions from the Solicitor General and the Amicus Curiae regarding the constitution and functioning of the CEC. The Court laid down the precise composition of the CEC, enumerating seven members including a Chairman (P.V. Jayakrishnan), the Director General of Forests, MoEF (P.R. Mohanty), the Member Secretary (M.K. Jiwrajka), and five other members (S.K. Patnaik, Dr. M.K. Muttoo, Mahendar Vyas, and Sanjeev Chaddha as Deputy Secretary). It also clarified that M.K. Jiwrajka would be on deputation with continuation until 31 March 2009, and that the term of office for the CEC would be three years or until further orders, whichever is earlier. The interim interlocutory application was disposed of. The order underscores a centralized, state-wide mechanism to enforce environmental safeguards and regulate forest-related activities across the country, balancing ecological protection with regulatory oversight.

Provisions of Law Cited

Environment Protection Act, 1986, s. 3(3)

Extracted Judgment Text

Exact text extracted from official judgment records.

[2008] 3 S.C.R. 141 _r_ A B , -' ## T.N. GODAVARMAN THIRUMULPAD _v._ UNION OF INDIA & ORS. > (I.A. No. 2016 of 2007) FEBRUARY 21, 2008 (K.G. 6ALAKRISHNAN, CJ., DR. ARIJIT PASAYAT AND S.H. KAPADIA, JJ.) ## _Environment Protection Act, 1986:_ _s.3(3)_ - _Setting up of Central Empowered Committee_ - C _In order to examine the_ cases _of illegal felling of trees, prohibiting mining activities inside National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries and other forest areas and reguleting establishment of new wood-based industries_ - _Committee constituted,_ as _mentioned in the order_ - _Term of office of CEC_ D _would be three years._ CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICITON: I.A. No.2016 of2007 in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 202 of 1995 Under Article 32 of the Constitution of India. E G.E. Vahanvati, Sol. Genl. for India, R. Mohan, A.S.G., Harish N. Salve, (A.C.), U.U. Lalit, (A.C.), K.Amareswari, Ranjit Kumar, V.B. Singh, K.K. Venugopal, Shobha Dixit, Siddhartha''~. Chowdhury (A.C.), P.K. Manohar, Tapesh Kumar Singh, Dinesh Chandra Pandey, Ajit Kumar Sinha, Haris Beeran (for F. F . Parmeswaran). Virendra Parmar, Sunita Singh, Varun, Shefali Jain, Binu Tamta, Sushma Suri, Ng. J.R. Luwang, Riku Sarma (for M/s. Corporate Law Group), S.U.K. Sagar, Bina Madhavan, Hemal K. Sheth, (for Mis. Lawyers' Knit & Co.), Manish . Goswami, Ashok Panigrahi (for M/s. MAP & Co.}, s:· Balaji, G Lakshmi Jayashankar, M.L. Lahoty Paban K. Sharma, Rachana Srivastava, Rani Chhabra, Anil Kr. Jha, (M/s. Fox Mandal & Co.~. · J.K. Bhatia, Sridhar Potaraju, Pramod Dayal, Anil Kr. Srivastava, • Ritu Raj, Rameshwar Prasad Goyal, V.K. Verma, Ajit Pudussery, H 141 SUPREME COURT REPORTS 142 [2008] 3 S.C.R. - A G. Prakash, Suparna Srivastava, Manish Sharma, Rajesh Srivastava, Jitendra Mohan Sharma and Gopal Singh for the appearing parties. 1 . We have considered the suggestions given by learned Solicitor General and learned Amicus Curiae regarding the 8 constitution of the Central Empowered Committee. The composition of CEC shall be as follows: The Order of the Court was delivered - (1) Shri P.V. Jayakrishnan, Chairman c - (2) Shri P.R. Mohanty, Director General of Forests, MoEF - (3) Shri M.K. Jiwrajka, Member Secretary - (4) Shri S.K. Patnaik D - (5) Dr. M.K. Muttoo - (6) Shri Mahendar Vyas - (7) Shri Sanjeev Chaddha (Deputy Secretary) E 2. Shri M.K. Jiwrajka is on deputation as of today as he belongs to the cadre of the Forest Officials in the State of Maharashtra which deputation is ordered to be continued till 31.3.2009. 3. Term of office of CEC would be three years or until further F orders, whichever is earlier. R.P. lnteralocutory application disposed of.