The Madras High Court has held that the National Green Tribunal (NGT) lacks the jurisdiction to deal with environmental issues related to shrimp hatcheries located on coastal areas since the Coastal Aquaculture Authority (CAA) Act of 2005 was not one of the scheduled enactments under the NGT Act of 2010.
A Division Bench of Justices Anita Sumanth and C. Kumarappan, however, decided that instead of the NGT, the High Court itself shall suo motu decide whether the coastal aquaculture units must adhere to Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ) notifications issued by the Centre from time to time or not.
The orders were passed while allowing writ petitions filed by two shrimp hatcheries, one located at Vettuvankeni on the East Coast Road in Chennai and another at Marakkanam in Villupuram district. The petitioners were aggrieved over a suo motu order passed by the NGT, Chennai bench on September 29, 2022.
Representing one of the writ petitioners, senior counsel V. Raghavachari said, the petitioners were covered under the CAA Act which was a complete code by itself, providing for various regulatory measures. He said, the parliament had consciously kept this law outside the jurisdiction of the NGT.
Yet, the NGT Chennai bench had taken suo motu notice of some news report in an English daily regarding the functioning of shrimp hatcheries along the ECR without CRZ clearance and gone about issuing sweeping directions without even affording an opportunity of hearing to the hatcheries, he complained.
He said, the NGT had without any basis ordered that the shrimp hatcheries could not be allowed to function without obtaining approvals under the CRZ Notifications 2011 and 2019 and that they were also liable to monetarily compensate for the restoration of the alleged damage caused to the environment.
The judges concurred with him that the NGT ought not to have entertained an issue falling under the CAA Act and that it should not have passed sweeping orders without putting the affected parties on notice. They, however, decided that the core issue shall now be adjudicated by the High Court itself.
The Bench set aside the NGT’s September 29, 2022 order and directed the High Court Registry to number the matter as a suo motu writ petition before placing it before Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari for appropriate orders with respect to the listing of the case.
Published – June 04, 2026 05:30 am IST
