0% success rate for environmental parties in NGT appeals from Jan-June: Report

Environmental and public-interest parties did not secure a single favourable judgment on merits, while project proponents, industry and property owners won 30 of 51 such appeals, an assessment of a database tracking court judgments across South Asia has found.

South Asian Reporter on Environment Law (SAREL) assessed 119 appeals by the five benches of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), including the Principal Bench in Delhi, which were decided between January and June 2026. It found the environmental or public-interest side had a 0% success rate over six months. Industry, project proponents and property owners had a 58.8% success rate.

“Across 119 appeals at five benches, the environmental justice/public-interest side won 0 of 16 merits appeals. The project-proponent, industry and property-owner side won 30 of 51,” the assessment said.

It found that a significant proportion of the cases did not reach the merits stage. Of the 119 appeals, 52 were disposed of on procedural grounds, including limitation, jurisdiction, maintainability or withdrawal. This meant that 67 matters were decided on their merits. “Around 44% of all appeals were dismissed on limitation, jurisdiction, maintainability or withdrawal without any merits ruling,” the assessment said.

Among the 67 merits decisions, all 16 appeals filed by environmental or public-interest parties were unsuccessful. On the other side, industry, project proponents and property owners secured favourable orders in 30 of their 51 merits appeals, with a further three matters at the Principal Bench being maintained at status quo, it found. This pattern was seen consistently across all benches too.

Nine environmental/public-interest appeals were decided on the merits in the Western Zone Bench, and all were dismissed. Industry, proponents and property owners secured favourable orders in 15 of 24 cases.

None of the three environmental/public-interest appeals succeeded before the Central Zone Bench. One of five industry/proponent appeals received a favourable order.

The Principal Bench dismissed both environmental appeals. Five of 10 industry/proponent appeals resulted in favourable orders and three ended with status quo.

The Southern zone dismissed the lone environmental appeal. Industry, project proponents and property owners secured favourable orders in nine of 12 merits appeals.

Rejected environmental clearances were also set aside, and matters were sent back for fresh appraisal.

The assessment said most proponent-side wins before the Western Bench involved setting aside rejected clearances and directing fresh consideration after correcting deficiencies.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh cited the findings and said the contrast in successes for industry, project proponents or property owners, and environmental or public-interest parties is significant given that the NGT was established in June 2010 through an Act of Parliament to provide effective and expeditious environmental justice. In a post on X, Ramesh said the NGT must “rediscover” its courage.

The release of the assessment coincided with a two-day NGT international conference titled ‘The Future of Environment and Climate Dynamics’, on September 19-20.

NGT chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava said the conference highlighted the need to move beyond identifying environmental challenges towards building laws, institutions and partnerships capable of responding to them. Shrivastava said environmental law must remain responsive and forward-looking, embracing technology, innovation, sustainable finance and just transition.