Environment & Mining

The chamber appears before the National Green Tribunal at its Principal Bench in Delhi and its zonal benches, and in the writ and appellate proceedings that run alongside. The matters arise from environmental clearances granted or refused, conditions attached to them, stop-work and closure orders, and the applications by which project proponents, State authorities and affected residents bring a question of environmental regulation to the Tribunal.

Mining is a particular focus: leases and their renewal under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, the State rules on minor minerals, the District Survey Reports on which clearances for sand and stone now depend, and the Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 2006 and the guidelines issued under it. The chamber acts for lessees and for the bodies that regulate them.

An environmental matter is a technical one as much as a legal one. The chamber works from the clearance file, the replenishment study and the Tribunal's own expert reports, and its partners have written on the development of the District Survey Report regime and the Tribunal's orders on mining.

What the work includes

• Original applications and appeals before the National Green Tribunal
• Environmental clearances under the EIA Notification, 2006
• Mining leases and minor-mineral rules under the MMDR Act
• District Survey Reports and replenishment studies
• Stop-work, closure and compensation orders
• Writ petitions and special leave petitions arising from Tribunal orders