Noida: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has summoned Noida Authority’s, CEO Lokesh M and Deputy General Manager Shripal Bhatti alleging that the authority mislead the bench by presenting false facts. The case is regarding the illegal construction by the authority on the sides of road.
A person who is an environmentalist filed a complaint in the court against Noida Authority for illegal concreting of roadsides in many parts of Noida and Greater Noida. He argued that this was against the environmental norms and violates government order of March 23, 2018.
Details of the case
After review NGT found that the concern of the applicant was true. The Noida Authority claimed that all illegal construction have been removed. The tribunal after verification found that the illegal concreting has not been removed despite claims by the authority. The council representing Noida Authority expressed regret for admitting reply with errors to the Tribunal. After this the tribunal did not accept the apology stating that submission of wrong facts lead to wrong decision in favour of the authority. NGT highlighted that this is a serious violation of law.
Court rejects apology by Noida Authority
The NGT admonishingly highlighted that the Noida Authority did “fraud” with it by presenting wrong facts and misleading evidence. The NGT bench comprised of Judicial member Justice Sudhir Agarwal and an expert Dr Afroz Ahmad. The bench stated, “We reject the apology as the authority made a false statement before the tribunal and recievied a judgement in its favour. The court said that the unauthorised construction which is still there is violation of the law.”
CEO and DGM summoned in court
The bench stated, “CEO and DGM (work circle) of Noida authority will have to answer the in court next day as they had signed the response which consisted of false statements. They must tell the court as to why should they not be prosecuted as per the law for misleading the court and getting judgement in their favour.” The next hearing is on November 8.
