Eco leg-up: Green Bench for HC

Eco leg-up: Green Bench for HC
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bangalore: A green Bench: this could well be a first in the legal history of the country. Providing legal space for green concerns, the Karnataka High Court, in a notification on Thursday (February 19), announced the setting up of the Bench to exclusively deal with environmental issues. The high court which receives plenty of appeals on issues like mining, water, forest and lakes, can now speedily dipose of cases as they will directly come under the purview of this special Bench headed by Chief Justice P D Dinakaran. The Bench will hold its sitting in the principal Bench at Bangalore.
The cases pertaining to the environment pending in other circuit Benches of the HC will also be transferred to this Bench.
The notification says that all the writ petitions related to grant of lease/licence of mines and minerals, or government, private and forest lands which are concerned with the protection and improvement of environment and prevention of hazards to human beings, other living species, and have bearing with pollution control, will now be dealt by this Bench.
The first issue that will come up before this Bench on February 24 is mining-related petitions in which an inquiry has been sought into the alleged Rs 150-cr mining bribery scam.
Benchmark
l In 2003, Law Commission proposed setting up environmental courts
l In 2007, ministry of environment and forests drafted a Bill that will wind up all special authorities SC had set up to deal with green issues
l The Bill proposed green courts that will be directly appointed by central government
l In Karnataka, the green Bench is set up by the HC