Green Tribunal defers hearing on Lavasa's plea

The National Green Tribunal on Monday deferred the hearing of Lavasa Corporation Ltd's petition challenging the union ministry of environment and forest’s decision to impose conditions with the environmental clearance accorded to the firm's USD 31 billion hillside township project near Pune.

The hearing was adjourned for July 19, in wake of cases pending in the Bombay High Court on issues relating to the project where the tribunal's jurisdiction to hear Lavasa's plea is to be decided.

Lavasa had questioned the applicability of Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) notification, 2006, requiring environmental clearance from Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF), on the project.

The tribunal, meanwhile, asked the MoEF and the state of Maharashtra to file their replies on Lavasa's plea by then.

"The counsel for appellant (Lavasa) states that the writ petitions are still pending before the high court of Bombay relating to the same project and they may come up for hearing in the month of June, 2012.

"Therefore, we feel that the matter be taken up on July 19, 2012, so that, in the meanwhile, the appellant will be able to furnish the result of the writ petitions pending before the high court of Bombay," said a bench of justices C V Ramulu and Devendra Kumar Agrawal.

"In the meanwhile, all respondents shall file their reply on or before July 2, 2012 and the appellant is at liberty to file rejoinder, if any," it added.

Earlier on February 17 also, the tribunal had deferred the hearing of the case observing that a petition before the high court is pending, "wherein some important questions are raised pertaining to applicability of EIA notification itself".