NDTV withdraws case against government's Sagarmala project

NDTV Limited has withdrawn its case before the National Green Tribunal against the government's Sagarmala project. It had filed the petition claiming that indiscriminately building new ports under the scheme would damage the Indian shoreline further.

The green tribunal in an order September 16 recorded that NDTV "wishes to withdraw this Application with liberty to file a fresh Application after averring proper facts, grounds and relief that would squarely fall within the ambit and scope to Section 14 of the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010."

In effect, the media company withdrew the application a year after it had filed the case but it has kept its options open to apply with a fresh petition at a later stage if it so decided.But, responding to queries from Business Standard, the media company claimed it had been asked by the tribunal to withdraw the application. 

 

It said, "We have been directed by the Court, to withdraw our application and file the application afresh, with additional and up to date facts and information. We are currently in the process of collating the necessary information and shall be re-filing the application before the NGT shortly."

Business Standard had recently reported about NDTV's petition which had been filed in 2015 but had not gathered attention so far. The NDTV's legal recourse had come four years after it ran a programme series on the environmental degradation to the Indian coast line. Besides asking for halting work on all new ports as an interim measure NDTV had asked the tribunal that civil and criminal action be taken against authorities, governments and private companies for causing damage to the coast due to their neglect, oversight or complicity. 

It had asked for a complete port policy overhaul, the creation of a restoration fund and a cumulative environmental, economic and social impact assessment to decide the "the necessity of new ports and, if needed, the possible locations where a limited number of ports and harbours could be developed on sound scientific criteria." 

It had made the central government and various port authorities across the states party to the case. Most of them, including the central government had not responded for months leading the tribunal to even threaten some with penalty and warrants for arrest. Those who had responded in the case had challenged the petition on grounds of the right of the company to file such a case and failing limitation period - the time within which someone can file a case before the green tribunal under the National Green Tribunal Act. The order of the NGT acknowledging that NDTV wished to withdraw its application refers to section 14 of the Act which refers to the ambit of the tribunal to listen to cases "where a substantial question relating to environment" is involved as well as the limitation period for filing such cases. 

A case needs to be filed within a "period of six months from the date on which the cause of action for such dispute first arose". In its original petition NDTV had claimed the case was within this time period as it was in response to government's announcement in 2015 of the Sagarmala project. 

It is not ascertainable if NDTV withdrew its application in response to oral suggestions from the tribunal, as the company claims but the NGT final orders dismissing the case do not suggest so.