Another environment watchdog bites the dust

The attack on independent constitutional institutions remains unabated under the BJP –led central government.

With rampant amendments and abrogation, the government has been creating laws and rules which suit the vested interests, and crony capitalists owing allegiance to the ruling party.

While PM Modi boasted of environment equity and biodiversity protection and an increase in forest cover to be the best under his regime at the recently concluded G-20 summit, the ground reality is quite the opposite.

The latest body to face the wrath of the government, and perhaps the last of the dedicated, independent environment watchdogs, is the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) constituted by the Supreme Court itself.

The CEC has been operating since 2002 under the control of the SC, to report to the Court on enforcement of its environmental decisions and make recommendations for environmental protection.

The Government of India’s Sept 5 2023 notification reconstituting the Central Empowered Committee completely destroys the independent nature of this institution of accountability and course correction.

This institution, set up by the Supreme Court in 2002 and reconstituted in 2008, worked as eyes and ears of the Supreme Court on environmental issues.

The new committee has no independent members; it will be constituted by the MoEF when the ministry itself has such an abysmally poor track record.

The notification, reports said, diluted the CEC’s autonomy on four key counts: the committee will report to the ministry, instead of the SC; the ministry will pick all the members and the SC will have no role in the process; the ministry, and not the court, will fund the committee; the provision of having two NGOs in the committee has been done away with.

Unfortunately this whole reconstitution is happening under direct supervision and approval of the Supreme Court. Set up in 2002, and reconstituted in 2008, the CEC has, in the words of the court, “rendered yeoman services to the cause of the environment.”

It has filed thousands of reports on issues referred to it by the apex court that has shaped the discourse around environment policy. These include compensatory afforestation, net present value of forests, Kudremukh mining, Aravali forests and Bellary mining.

In contrast to the PM’s claims at the G-20 of biodiversity conservation, the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Act of 2023 is a “massive dilution” of the original 2002 law.

The 2023 Act does away with any criminal offence provisions, allowing those who destroy biodiversity and engage in bio piracy to get away scot-free.

The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), formerly an independent body with the powers to act as a check and balance, has been completely put under the control of the Environment Ministry.

Rather than having courts enforce fines, the new Act puts government officers in charge of penalties. Through various exemptions from benefit-sharing provisions, the law disadvantages those with traditional knowledge of biodiversity in favour of those who exploit it commercially.

The Act enables the Modi Government to continue the reckless destruction of biodiversity across India. The claims of environmental equity are contradicted by the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act of 2023.

The Act is likely to be disastrous for the Adivasi and other forest-dwelling communities in India, as it undermines the Forest Rights Act of 2006. It does away with provisions for the consent of local communities and requirements for forest clearance in vast areas.

Interestingly, despite being an NDA partner, Mizoram has passed a resolution in the Assembly opposing the Act and Nagaland is soon expected to do the same.

The new law removes protections for up to 25 per cent of India’s forest cover, in violation of the 1996 TN Godavarman Supreme Court judgment. It is only paving the way for the Modi government to exploit forests and hand them over to a select few crony capitalists.