Shimla, June 15: In a major relief to the chairman of the HP State Pollution Control Board (PCB), the HP High Court on Thursday stayed the order passed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) whereby the chairman of the State Pollution Control Board had been directed to stop functioning as chairman of the board.
A division bench comprising the Acting Chief Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Sandeep Sharma passed this order on a petition filed by the chairman of the state pollution control Board, Kuldeep Singh Pathania challenging the order of the NGT on the ground that the tribunal has exceeded its jurisdiction while passing the order under challenge.
It was further contended that the subject matter of the appointment is related to service and the NGT has limited jurisdiction. The tribunal is not empowered to entertain or pass orders on the service-related issues.While passing this order the court directed the Chief Secretary to frame rules and regulations with regard to the appointment of chairman of the board and thereafter within one month make appointment of chairman of the pollution board in accordance with the rules.
On June 8 the NGT had restrained the chairmen of states of Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Kerala, Rajasthan, Telangana, Haryana, Maharastra and Manipur from working as chairmen of the respective PCBs on a petition filed by a resident of Uttarakhand alleging that in most of the states the post of chairmen are being manned, without requisite qualification, by bureaucrats, politicians.
Source Tribune India
