He was the former Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu
Former Additional Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu and Commissioner of Revenue Administration K. Satyagopal has been appointed expert member of the Southern Bench of the National Green Tribunal.
On Tuesday, the NGT Chairperson issued an order appointing Dr. Satyagopal as an expert member with immediate effect. He will hold the post till further orders. Earlier, former Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary Girija Vaidyanathan was appointed expert member of the bench, which was opposed by environmental group Poovulagin Nanbargal at the Madras High Court.
The court rejected the PIL, citing her experience as Environment and Forest Secretary, Chairperson of Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board and Health Secretary.
Protests against ex-chief secretary gain momentum, as Sterlite to start oxygen production
Vedanta-owned Sterlite plant was shut down in 2018 due to environment violations. Activists fear Girija Vaidyanathan’s appointment would result in the activated plant to flout regulations again
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The Sterlite plant: The police firing in Thoothukkudi pertaining to the Sterlite protests in May 2018 had occurred during the tenure of Girish Vaidyanathan as chief secretary of the state
When Tamil Nadu is battling to convince the Centre not to divert oxygen to other states and the state health department is racing to maintain oxygen availability, the recent appointment of the former chief secretary of the state, Girija Vaidyanathan, as expert member of the National Green Tribunal, has come under the radar once again.
Centre should clarify how far experience can be treated as expertise for tribunal posts
The establishment of tribunals as adjudicatory bodies in specific fields is based on the idea that specialisation and expertise are required to decide complex cases of a technical nature. The ‘tribunalisation’ of justice is driven by the recognition that it would be cost-effective, accessible and give scope for utilising expertise in the respective fields. Central to this scheme is the principle that the ‘experts’ appointed to these tribunals should bring in special knowledge and experience. These criteria came under focus recently when the appointment of former IAS officer, Girija Vaidyanathan, as Expert Member in the Southern Bench of the NGT, was challenged in the Madras High Court. Even though the court initially granted an interim stay on her appointment, it ruled that she was not ineligible, going by the criteria in the NGT Act. She was found to have fulfilled the eligibility requi
Girija Vaidyanathan gets High Court nod as green panel s expert member thehindu.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thehindu.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Madras High Court stays appointment of former TN Chief Secy as NGT member
By IANS| Posted by Neha | Updated: 9th April 2021 8:15 pm IST
Chennai: The Madras High Court on Friday stayed the appointment of former Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary Girija Vaidyanathan as an expert member of the National Green Tribunal (NGT).
The stay order was passed following a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by the NGO Poovulagin Nanbargal challenging the appointment.
The bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthil Ramamoorthy, while passing the order said: “We are not happy at the qualifications of the person who has been appointed as a member of the tribunal”.