NGT orders leave SPCB chief in spot

Bhanu P Lohumi

Tribune News Service

Shimla, August 28

The appointment of chairman of the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) and member secretary has come under a cloud following orders passed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

The tribunal directed states and Union Territories to appoint chairpersons and member secretary in pollution control boards on merit basis within three months.

The orders would have far-reaching repercussion for several other states also where politicians and bureaucrats, not meeting the qualifications criteria, are holding these posts.

Chairman of the Himachal Pradesh Pollution Control Board Kuldeep Singh Pathania is a former Congress MLA and practising lawyer, while member secretary Sanjay Sood is an IFS officer.

Earlier also, the government had appointed another former Congress MLA, Ajay Bahadur as the chairman of the State Pollution Control Board.

Appointments of politicians and bureaucrats on these posts had been a common practice in the state and even the present chairman is a former Congress MLA.

Further, the post of member secretary is being filled by officers of the Indian Forest Service, who are technically not “environment scientists”.

“The state governments/UTs shall constitute pollution control boards strictly in accordance with Section 4 of the Water Act and Section 5 of the Air Act and follow the eligibility criteria for appointment of chairman/member secretary of the SPCB and also notify the rules under the Water and Air Act expeditiously specifying the qualifications and experiences required for these posts,” an NGT Bench headed by Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar and comprising Justice Raghuvendra S Rathore said.

The orders were passed on a plea by Uttarakhand resident Rajendra Singh Bhandari, who had challenged the constitution of state pollution control boards on the ground that people who did not qualify were appointed as chairman, member secretary and members of these boards.

The post of chairman/member secretary should be advertised and thrown open to all candidates irrespective of the fact whether they are in the government, academia or in private sector to attract the best talent, the Bench said.

It added that the “appointment should be of persons who have special knowledge, practical experience or qualification in environment protection studies and not on the ground of their association with the state government”.

“The state government and all competent authorities shall proceed to make appointment/ nomination of the members of the board as per categorisation and subject to the limitations as expeditiously as possible, not later than three months from the date of pronouncement of this judgment,” the Bench said.

“Once a person with requisite eligibility is appointed in the State Pollution Control Board, he should be allowed to continue for full tenure unless there are charges of misconduct,” the Bench said.

“Tenure unaffected by political and bureaucratic interference will be extremely important for officials to function fearlessly and in accordance with the mandate of the legislation under relevant environmental protection laws,” it said.

With growing industrialisation and urbanisation, the State Pollution Control Board had high responsibility and any appointment should be made only after coming to the conclusion that the person concerned had good knowledge in environment protection laws, gained through practice rather than theory, it said.

The NGT said despite clear provisions of law, guidelines by the Monitory Committee constituted by the Supreme Court and directions issued by the Centre, the qualifications of persons who were being appointed by the state governments did not show much improvement which affects the working of the state pollution control boards and was resulting in degradation of environment.