Advocates:
For the Appellants/Petitioners: Mr. Dcosta Ivo Manuel Simon, AOR, Mr. Ninad Laud, Adv., Mr. Saurabha Kulkarni, Adv., Mr. Guruprasad Naik, Adv.
For the Respondents: Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.G., Mr. Vikram Banerjee, A.S.G., Mr. Gurmeet Singh Makker, AOR, Mr. Kanu Agrawal, Adv., Mr. Prashant Singh-ii, Adv., Ms. Rajeshwari Shankar, Adv., Ms. Shagun Thakur, Adv., Mr. Rohan Gupta, Adv., Mr. Santosh Krishnan, AOR, Mr. Ashwin Joseph, Adv.

Based on the provided legal document, the key points are as follows:

1. The Court emphasizes the importance of maintaining the requisite number of judicial members in the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to ensure its effective functioning, as mandated by the statutory provisions of the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 (!) (!) .

2. The current situation reveals that due to judicial members on extension and upcoming retirements, there will be at least three vacancies in the judicial membership of the NGT, which could significantly impair its operational efficiency across multiple locations (!) (!) .

3. The Court notes that, according to recent judicial directions, judicial members appointed before the enactment of certain reforms are protected and continue to serve under the original statutory framework, but this protection does not extend indefinitely to all current and future appointments (!) .

4. In light of the impending vacancies and the potential disruption to the NGT’s functioning, the Court has directed that certain judicial members—specifically Hon’ble Sri Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi, Hon’ble Smt. Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana, and Hon’ble Sri Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh—shall continue to serve as judicial members until further appointments are made or until further orders (!) .

5. The Union of India is instructed to comply with the Court’s directions to ensure the NGT’s operational continuity, particularly in light of the urgent need to fill judicial vacancies and prevent operational disruptions (!) (!) .

6. The Court underscores that the effective functioning of the NGT is crucial for the administration of environmental law and that operational disruptions due to vacancies would adversely affect litigants seeking justice before the Tribunal (!) .

These points collectively highlight the Court’s concern regarding the composition of the NGT, the legal protections afforded to existing judicial appointments, and the interim measures ordered to maintain the Tribunal’s functionality.