Justice Prakash Shrivastava Takes Oath As New Chairperson Of NGT

Former Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court, Justice Prakash Shrivastava, took oath today as the new Chairperson of the National Green Tribunal in the presence of all the members of the principal and zonal benches.

Highlighting the constitutional safeguards, Justice Shrivastava said that, “Right to healthy environment has been construed as a part of right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution.”

“The powers which have been conferred upon the NGT are very wide. Greater the power, greater is the responsibility to ensure that powers are being used and utilised for achieving the object and purpose of the Act”, added the Chairperson.

Justice Shrivastava further said that, “The environmental issues mainly arise on account of the conflict between the developmental activities and their adverse impact on environment. Hence, a balance approach is required to ensure sustainable development. As Chairman of the NGT my effort will be to consider the issues raised before the Tribunal in such a manner that the object with which the Tribunal has been constituted is fully achieved.”

Justice Srivastav was enrolled as an advocate on February 2, 1987. He practiced in tax, civil, and constitutional law at the Supreme Court of India in New Delhi. Later, he was appointed as a Judge of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh on January 18, 2008, and subsequently became a permanent Judge on January 15, 2010. In 2021, he took the oath as the Chief Justice of the High Court at Calcutta and retired in March of this year.