Activists: NGT disposed of Aarey Colony case 'arbitrarily'

Activists stage protest near the car depot site on Tuesday night

In a surprise development, the Aarey Colony matter was 'disposed of' by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on January 24 with lawyers and activists claiming they were not given a chance to attend the hearing.

The matter of Aarey Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ) was scheduled for a regular hearing on January 24. However, on January 23, the lawyers were informed from that all video-conferencing matters were postponed to March 3.

Moreover, instead of the designated Western Region Bench, the Aarey ESZ matter would be heard by the Principal Bench, New Delhi, the NGT registry informed when asked about the change in plans.

"We learned about the directions to transfer the matter from the Western Region to the Principal Bench when I called up the NGT," advocate Zaman Ali, representing environmental NGO Vanashakti, said.

Much to the shock of the various petitioners, the case was 'disposed of' by the Principal Bench, without lawyers from either the petitioners' side or the Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF) present, Vanashakti director Stalin Dayanand said.

MoEF lawyer Rahul Garg confirmed the same but said he did not receive any calls from the NGT registry. "It is also not clear how the case was transferred from the Western Region to the Principal Bench or any orders to the effect," he said.

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