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Powers and Functions of National Green Tribunal

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National Green Tribunal

This article is written by Richa Singh of Faculty of Law, Aligarh Muslim University, on the powers and functions of National Green Tribunal and Apoorv Singh Chauhan, B.A. LL.B (Hons.) student at NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad. The article has been compiled by Subodh Asthana. In this article, they have discussed the origin, the National Green Tribunal Bill of 2009 and the National Green Tribunal Act of 2010 in detail along with its jurisdiction, functions, and challenges faced by it while deciding cases with the help of some of the important judgements.

Introduction

The Constitution of India through its directive principles of state policy (DPSP) mentions that “it is the duty of the state to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country and bestow upon the citizens the duty to protect the environment”.

In reality the implementation of DPSPs immediately after independence was a difficult task for the government as there were many other problems that were given priority over the environment. To overcome the basic problems of poverty, illiteracy, unemployment and to provide basic health care facilities, environment issues were not given that much importance. In order to increase the production in the economy more and more industries were set up. This has led to the degradation of environment at a large scale in India and the priority in the last decade had gradually shifted to protection of the environment.

In 2010, the government enacted the National Green Tribunal (NGT) Act which enabled the creation of a special green tribunal that would handle the cases concerning environmental issues. The inspiration for this came from Article 21 of the Constitution of India which guarantees the citizens of India a right to a clean and healthy environment.

After the enactment of the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010, India became the third country in the world after New Zealand and Australia which has special fast-track courts and quasi-judicial bodies that deal with environment-related cases.

Since its establishment, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has emerged as a powerful unit for the enforcement or implementation of Environmental legislation made in India. Further, the National Green Tribunal adds one more variation by providing a strict penalty for disregarding the orders given by the tribunal. Thus, the implementation of these judgements of the tribunal results in dealing with such cases in an effective manner as compared to other civil courts which used to deal with environmental issues as well.

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Origin of the idea of establishing environmental courts in India

In 1992, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development was held in Rio de Janeiro, India pledged to provide administrative and judicial remedies for the victims who have suffered problems due to different pollutants and other environmental damage.

The Supreme Court of India suggested that there should be environmental courts on regional basis with professional judges and 2 experts keeping in mind the kind of expertise needed to deal with such issues.[1]  This was emphasized by the Supreme Court as there was a need for speedy justice for environmental protection and to reduce the burden on the High courts which were not able to do quick disposal of cases involving environmental issues as they were overburdened by cases.

As a result of this dire need for speedy justice The National Green Tribunal (NGT) was founded on 18th October, 2010 under the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010. It is a statutory tribunal which was enacted by the parliament specially for hearing the matters concerning to environmental issues. It was a result of long procedure and the demand for such tribunal started long back in the year 1984 after the Bhopal gas tragedy. Then the Supreme Court specifically mentioned the need for such tribunals in the case where the gas leaked from Shriram food and fertilizers limited in Delhi. 

The Supreme Court than in a number of cases highlighted the difficulty faced by judges in adjudicating on complex environmental cases and laid emphasis on the need to set up a specialized environmental court. Though the credit for enacting the NGT Act, 2010 goes to the then Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh, it became functional only because of repeated directions of the Supreme Court while hearing the Special Leave Petition titled Union of India v. Vimal Bhai[2].

The legislate Act of Parliament defines the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 as “An Act to provide for the establishment of a National Green Tribunal for the effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental protection and conservation of forests and other natural resources including enforcement of any legal right relating to environment and giving relief and compensation for damages to persons and property and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto”.

Difference between a Court and a Tribunal

The Supreme Court has given an answer to this question in the form of this statement that “Every Court may be a Tribunal but every Tribunal is not a Court”. 

For instance, a High Court may issue writs and has wide-ranging powers under which it can hear cases on different matters but the Nation Green Tribunal can only deal with the cases involving the environment and other natural resources and the laws which are mentioned under Schedule I of the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010.

Composition of National Green Tribunal

The tribunal shall consist of minimum of 10 members and not more than 20 members. This will be in accordance with the notification given by the central government. The members will be a mix of judges and expert members on environmental issues. In case of any deadlock i.e. the tie between number of judges against and in favor of a decision the authority will remain in the hands of chairperson to decide the case and break the deadlock.  Every bench of tribunal must consist of at least one expert member and one judicial member

The qualification required by the person to become a chairperson is that he should have been a Supreme Court judge or chief justice of a High Court and to become eligible for becoming a judicial member of the tribunal the person should have been a judge of the High court. To be qualified as an expert member of the tribunal a person shall possess a degree of master of sciences whether physical sciences or life sciences with a doctorate degree or masters of technology or masters of engineering having fifteen years of experience in that field with a five year experience in fields of environment and forests[3].

The composition of the National Green Tribunal is given in Section 4 of Chapter II of the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010. 

  • The tribunal shall consist of the following people:
    • A full-time Chairperson;
    • At least 10 members and not more than 20 members consisting of full-time Judicial officials as notified by the Central Government from time to time;
    • At least 10 members and not more than 20 members consisting of Experts as notified by the Central Government from time to time. 
  • The Chairperson may, anytime, invite anyone who has specialized knowledge and experience regarding environmental issues filed before the Tribunal for the purpose of assistance.
  • By notification, the Central Government can anytime specify the sitting place of the Tribunal and the territorial jurisdiction falling under all the places.
  • In consultation with the Chairperson of the Tribunal, the Central Government can make rules regarding the procedures and practices followed by the Tribunal which includes the following:
    • The rules regarding the persons who shall be entitled to appear before the Tribunal;
    • The rules regarding the procedure by which the Tribunal hears applications and appeals and any other matter related to such applications or appeals.
    • The rules regarding the number of members who can hear the appeals and applications – with respect to their class or classes. The number of experts hearing an appeal or application should be equal to the number of Judicial members hearing the same appeal or application.
    • The rules related to the shifting of a case from one place to another by the Chairperson.  

 National Green Tribunal Chairman

Justice Lokeshwar Singh Panta became its first Chairman. Justice Swatanter Kumar retired on 20 December 2017. After him, the acting Chairman of the National Green Tribunal was Justice Jawad Rahim, retired Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel is the incumbent chairman of the National Green Tribunal.

Appointment of Chairperson

  • According to Section 5 of the National Green Tribunal Act, the Chairperson, Judicial Members and Expert Members of the Tribunal shall be appointed by the Central Government.
  • The Chairperson is appointed by the Central Government after consulting with the Chief Justice of India.

Qualification 

For the post of Chairperson, a person should be one who is or has been a Supreme Court’s Judge or a High Court’s Chief Justice. 

Resignation

In order to resign from the office of the Chairperson, he can give a notice in writing addressing the Central Government. 

 Removal and Suspension 

The Chairperson can be removed from his office on the following grounds, if:

  • He is an insolvent; or
  • He has been convicted for anything which involves moral turpitude.
  • He has become mentally or physically incapable.
  • He has acquired a financial interest or any other interest which is likely to affect his functions prejudicially.
  • He has abused his position as to render his continuance to the public interest prejudicially.

Term of office

The Chairperson of the National Green Tribunal is appointed for a period of five years.

The Chairperson, if he is or has been a Supreme Court Judge shall not hold office after 70 years of age. In case, if he is or has been a High Court judge then he shall not hold office after 67 years of age. 

Objectives of the National Green Tribunal

There are three important objectives of the National Green Tribunal, they are:

  • The speedy and effective disposal of all the cases related to environmental protection and other natural resources. All the previous pending cases will also be decided by the Tribunal.
  • Its main aim is to legally enforce all the rights relating to the environment.
  • It accounts for providing compensation and justice to all the affected people in case of any damage.

Structure of National Green Tribunal

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has been established on 18th October 2010, under the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010, so that the cases associated with environmental protection and other natural resources like forests, etc. can be settled effectively and expeditiously by giving compensation and relief to all those who suffered damages for the matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. It has replaced the National Environment Appellate Authority.

Going by the enactment of the national green tribunal act, New Delhi has been chosen as the principal bench of the NGT, with regional benches in Pune (Western Zone Bench), Bhopal (Central Zone Bench), Chennai (Southern Bench) and Kolkata (Eastern Bench). Each Bench has a specified geographical jurisdiction covering several States in a region. There is also a mechanism for circuit benches. For example, the Central Zone bench, which is based in Bhopal, can decide to have sittings in other places like Gwalior or Jaipur. Specifying jurisdiction of each bench.

National Green Tribunal Bill 2009

  • The Government of India introduced The National Green Tribunal Bill, 2009 on 31st July 2009. 
  • The bill provides for the establishment of a Green Tribunal to deal with environmental cases specifically related to environmental protection and conservation of natural resources. 
  • This Tribunal would replace the National Environment Tribunal and the National Environment Appellate Authority.
  • The Tribunal would function under the Supreme Court of India and have jurisdiction over all civil matters related to the environment. It will have powers to order relief and compensation to the victims of environmental damage.
  • The bill had some loopholes due to which it faced criticisms but, after some amendments, the bill was finally passed in May 2010 in the form of the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010.
  • Before the tribunal came into existence, the normal courts used to hear environmental issues. After the establishment of the Green Tribunal, approximately 5000 pending cases were transferred to the Green Tribunal.
  • The previous adjudicatory framework included:
    • The Civil Procedure Code (CPC)
    • The Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC)
    • Criminal prosecutions under various laws.
    • The appellate authority to hear appeals against the order of the State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs).
    • The National Environment Tribunal Act, 1995. (now repealed)
    • The National Environment Appellate Authority Act, 1997. (now repealed)

Highlights of the Bill

  • The Bill was proposed for setting up specialized environmental courts in the country.
  • It would replace the National Environment Tribunal Act and the National Environmental Appellate Authority.
  • The council would consist of both experts and judicial members for settling the environment-related matters. 
  • The task of the Tribunal would be to hear ‘substantial’ questions related to environmental problems which affect not only individuals or groups but also the community at large because environment related issues affect public and not just individuals.

Criticisms 

  • A ‘substantial question’ related to the environment can be interpreted in many ways.
  • The tribunal would have only five benches which would reduce the access to justice.
  • The bill did not give any power to the tribunal to deal with some laws related to the environment.
  • The method of selecting members of the tribunal was not specified in the bill.
  • There was no information regarding the minimum number of members and the Selecting Committee of the tribunal.

Amendments 

The Bill was then revised by a Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests under the chairmanship of Dr. T. Subbarami Reddy and the committee had members from both houses of the parliament. Certain changes were proposed by the committee in their report on 24th November 2009 and they are as follows:

 

Section

Head

Original Bill

Proposed Amendment

Section 1(2)

The enforcement of the Act

The Central Government had the power to set different dates for different sections to come into force.

The date on which the Act shall come into force shall be decided by the Central Government by notifying the same in the Official Gazette.

Section 4(1)(b)

Number of members

The limit regarding the number of members the tribunal can appoint was not mentioned.

At least 10 members shall be appointed which can be extended to 20 members (includes both judicial members and experts).

Section 4(4)

Expansion of rules to include the transfer of cases, Circuit procedure, etc.

The rules to be made by the Central government in consultation with the Chairperson of the tribunal.

The rule-making power has been further defined to include:

It can hear any application or appeal at someplace other than its ordinary place of sitting and it falls under its jurisdiction.

The number of experts and judicial members should be equal while deciding any case.

The rules related to the transfer of cases from one place of sitting to another.

Section 5(4)

Post-tenure debarment

No member (judicial or expert) could take employment with someone else, who had been involved in a dispute before the tribunal for a period of one year.

The proposed amendment recommended the increase in the time period from one year to two years.

Section 18(2)(e)

Definition of a person aggrieved

Any organization or representative body which is working for the environment could file an application but it did not include whether a person who suffered the same could approach the tribunal or not. 

Any aggrieved person can approach the tribunal to seek justice and claim compensation in cases.

Section 19A

Principles 

New section

The principles of sustainable development, precautionary guidelines ad the ‘polluter pays’ should be considered while deciding cases.

Section 20

Decision-making power

The decision taken by the majority is final and binding.

If there is a deadlock while deciding any case and the member favouring the judgement and opposing are equal then the matter will be decided by the chairperson if he is not part of the hearing.

If he has been a part of the hearing then he will refer the case to another member who shall decide the case.

Section 21

Appeal to the Supreme Court

The decision taken by the tribunal is final and binding on both the parties in a case.

The aggrieved party, within 90 days of the communication of the order, can file an appeal in the Supreme Court. 

If a sufficient cause of delay exists, then the Supreme Court can hear an appeal even after 90 days.

 

Amendments to the Bill

After all these amendments the bill was finally passed by both the houses of the parliament after getting the approval of the President it became the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010.

  • An amendment in Clause 18(2)(e) gives an opportunity to all the citizens of India to approach the National Green Tribunal.
  • An amendment to Section 19(a) ensures to consider all the important principles like sustainable development, the polluter pays, etc. while deciding any case.
  • The entire act would come into force at once and not section-wise.
  • The aggrieved party can file an appeal in the Supreme Court of India if he is not satisfied by the decision of the Tribunal.
  • The provisions regarding the place of sitting and territorial jurisdiction also changed as per the recommendations of the committee.
  • The number of members in the council was fixed to a minimum of ten and no more than twenty.
  • The recommendations regarding the deadlock between the members while deciding a case was also approved and was changed accordingly.
  • A selection committee would be made for selecting the members of the Tribunal in a fair manner. People working in the field of environment and its conservation will be made its members. 

National Green Tribunal Act 2010

This act is known as the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010. The first Green Tribunal which got established officially was notified on 19th October 2010. 

Qualifications for Appointments

The Qualifications for the Chairperson and other Judicial and Expert members of the Tribunal is given in Section 5 of the Act.

 

Post 

Qualification

Chairperson

A person who is or has been a Supreme Court’s Judge or a High Court’s Chief Justice. 

Judicial Member

A person who is or has been a High Court’s Judge.

Expert Member

Experience and qualification in the technological and scientific field or practical experience in matters related to the environment.

Term of Office

The term of office for all members including Chairperson is given in Section 7 of the Act.

The Chairperson, Judicial and Expert members are appointed for five years.

The Chairperson and Judicial member, if he’s a Supreme Court Judge, shall not hold office after 70 years of age. In case, if he’s a High Court judge then he shall not hold office after 67 years of age. 

The Expert members can hold office only till 65 years of age.

Appointment of Chairperson, Judicial Member and Expert member

The manner of appointment in which the Chairperson and other members including Judicial members and Experts are given in Section 6 of the Act.

The Chairperson, Judicial members and Expert members of the Tribunal shall be appointed by the Central Government. The Chairperson shall be appointed by the Central Government after consulting with the Chief Justice of India. The Judicial members and Experts of the Tribunal shall be appointed by the Selection Committee in the manner as may be prescribed. 

Resignation

The manner of resigning from the Tribunal is given in Section 8 of the Act.

In order to resign from their office, the Chairperson, Judicial Member and Expert member can give a notice in writing addressing the Central Government.  

Salaries & Allowances 

The salaries and other allowances to the members of the tribunal are given in Section 9 of the Act.

The salaries and allowances payable to the Chairperson, Judicial Member and Expert Member of the Tribunal and other terms and conditions which include pension, gratuity and other benefits, shall be such as may be prescribed.

Neither the salary and allowances nor the other terms and conditions shall be varied to their disadvantage after the appointments.    

Removal and Suspension 

The process of removal and suspension of the Chairperson, Judicial Member and Expert is given in Section 10 of the Act.

The Central Government, in consultation with the Chief Justice of India, can remove a member from the office of the Chairperson, Judicial Member and Expert Member of the Tribunal if:

  • He is an insolvent; or
  • He has been convicted for anything which involves moral turpitude.
  • He has become mentally or physically incapable.
  • He has acquired a financial interest or any other interest which is likely to affect his functions prejudicially.
  • He has abused his position as to render his continuance to the public interest prejudicially.

No member can be removed from his office without an order made by the Central Government after an inquiry by a Judge of the Supreme Court related to the ground on which he is getting removed from his position. Such a person must be informed of the charges against him and should be given a reasonable chance of being heard in respect of the charges against him.

Vacancy

The provisions regarding vacancy are given in Section 11 of the Act.

In the case of any vacancy in the Office of the Chairperson of the Tribunal by reason of his death or resignation, a Judicial Member of the Tribunal as the Central Government may think fit to act on the Chairperson’s behalf, shall be appointed as the acting Chairperson until a new Chairperson is appointed according to the provisions mentioned under the Act.

Staff of Tribunal

The staff of Tribunal given in Section 14 of the Act.

  • The Central Government shall mention the categories of the Officers and other employees needed by the Tribunal to help them in discharging its functions.
  • The recruitment of the officers and other employees of the Tribunal shall be done by the Chairperson in accordance with the manner prescribed for the same.
  • All the officers and other employees of the Tribunal shall discharge their functions under the supervision of the Chairperson.
  • The salaries and allowances and all the other terms and conditions of service of the officers and employees shall be such as may be prescribed.

Application to the Tribunal 

An application to the Tribunal can be filed by anyone who:

  • Has sustained the injury
  • Is the owner of the property damaged
  • Is the legal representative of the deceased person
  • Is an agent authorized by the person affected
  • Is a person aggrieved and it also includes a representative body or an organization. 
  • The Government/CPCB/SPCBs/PCCs or any other environmental authority constituted under the Environment Act.

The application or appeal has to be decided quickly after hearing both the parties which a period of 6 months from the date of filing that appeal or application.

Jurisdiction and Powers of the National Green Tribunal

    • The National Green Tribunal has the power to hear all civil cases relating to environment that are linked to the implementation of all the laws listed in Schedule I of the Act. These are mentioned below:

 

 

This means that in case of any infringement of these laws or any order given by the Government under these laws which is not proper can be challenged in the National Green Tribunal and will be decided there. 

  • Most importantly, the National Green Tribunal has not been given the powers to hear any cases relating to the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, the Indian Forest Act, 1927 and various laws enacted by States relating to forests, tree preservation and various other laws.
  • The National Green Tribunal has jurisdiction to decide all the cases which involve substantial questions regarding the environment and its protection and any legal rights in connection with it.
  • The tribunal, being a statutory authority, not only exercises original jurisdiction on filing an application but also has appellate jurisdiction through which it hears appeals as a Court. 
  • The tribunal is not bound by the procedure mentioned under the Civil Procedure Code, 1908 and it applies the principles of natural justice while deciding any matter.
  • All the principles such as sustainable development, polluter pays and precautionary principles, are considered by the tribunal before deciding any case. 
  • The National Green Tribunal, by an order can provide the following:
    • Compensation and relief to all the people who are the victims of pollution and environmental damage  and it also includes accidents which happen while handling hazardous substances.
    • Restitution of a damaged property
    • Restitution of the environment for areas which the tribunal may think fit. 
  • An appeal against any order given by the tribunal can be made before the Supreme Court of India within ninety days from the date of communication of the order regarding the case.

Strengths of National Green Tribunal

  • Over the years the National Green Tribunal has emerged as a critical role player in regulating environmental issues ranging from waste management to deforestation.
  • By setting up an Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanism it helps in the evolution of environmental jurisprudence.
  • It helps in reducing burdens on higher courts as it specifically deals with environmental cases that were decided by the civil courts earlier.
  • It settles cases with lesser expenses and is less formal and a faster way of settling cases is also followed by the tribunal.
  • It plays an important role in curbing damage to the environment.
  • The Chairperson and the other members are not eligible for reappointment so they can give judgments without any pressure.
  • It ensures whether the Environment Impact Assessment process is strictly observed.

Functions of the National Green Tribunal Act

  • It is a body that has expertise in handling the disputes related to the environment which includes multi-disciplinary issues as well.
  • The Code of Civil Procedure, 1908,  shall not bind the Tribunal as it is to be guided by natural justice principles.
  • The jurisdiction of the Tribunal shall provide speedy trials of the environment-related matters and help in reducing the burden of cases pending in the higher courts.
  • The tribunal is mandated to dispose off environment-related issues within 6 months of filing the complaint. 
  • The National Green Tribunal need not follow all that is given under the Civil Procedure Code but can regulate the procedure by itself and applies the principle of natural justice in administering justice.
  • It is required to apply principles such as sustainable development at the time of awarding compensation or giving orders. 
  • It should have in mind the principle that whoever is found polluting will have to pay i.e. the principle of ‘Polluter Pays’.
  • The National Green Tribunal is not bound by the rules mentioned in the Indian Evidence Act.
  • All the proceedings before the National Green Tribunal shall be accorded to the proceedings within the sections of the IPC.
  • The tribunal is allowed to be a civil court to settle the matters.

Challenges 

  • The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 are out of the jurisdiction that is exercised by the tribunal. In this way, it hampers the functioning of the NGT and forest and wildlife are directly connected to the environment. 
  • One of the weaknesses of the Act is that any decision given by the tribunal can be challenged in various High courts under Article 226 through which it issues writs. It asserts the superiority of High Courts over the NGT and a case can be heard by the Supreme Court as well as a challenge to the decision given by the NGT.
  • Some of the decisions of the NGT have also been criticized due to their reverberations on economic development and growth. 
  • There is no formula based calculation of the compensation claimed by anyone which also creates problems.
  • The decisions pronounced by the NGT, sometimes, do not fully comply by the government and the stakeholders.
  • The lack of financial resources has led to the pendency of cases within the tribunal due to which it is not able to dispose off cases within six months.
  • Limited benches are there which serves as a hindrance in the justice delivery mechanism of the tribunal.

Important orders 

  • The NGT suspended an order in which a steel maker company signed an MoU with the government of Odisha to set up a steel plant. It was done for the local communities and forest life in the area.
  • It gave a judgement on the complete prohibition of open burning of wastelands including landfills for dealing with the issue of solid waste management in the country.
  • It has applied the principle of ‘polluter pays’ directly while deciding cases.
  • It ordered that all the diesel vehicles which are 10 years old will not be permitted in Delhi due to alarming air pollution. 
  • It never hesitated in imposing high penalties. For instance, a penalty of Rs. 5 crores was imposed in a case which came before the NGT.
  • It imposed an interim ban on the polythene bags which were less than 50-micron thickness in Delhi.
  • In a case, it held that even a foreign national can approach the NGT. 

Can someone personally argue a matter before the NGT?

Yes, you can argue your case personally before the NGT without hiring a lawyer but it applies only when you are well acquainted with the circumstances and facts of the case. You need to have some knowledge about the law and its procedures. You can only use English while pleading your case before the National Green Tribunal and there are some guidelines regarding the dress, you need to follow all that to argue your matter.

Penalty for non-compliance of an NGT Order

In case of non-compliance with any direction issued by the NGT or any of its judgements, a penalty can be imposed in which the person may be given imprisonment for about three years or fine which may extend to Rs. 10 crores or even both. If someone still continues to disobey the orders given by the Tribunal then in such cases a fine of Rs. 20,000 may be imposed on a daily basis.  The NGT is really strict when it comes to the non-compliance of its orders. 

judgements
Image Source: Flickr

National Green Tribunal Judgements

Some of the important judgments of the NGT are as follows:

In Ms. Betty C. Alvares vs. The State of Goa and Ors.[1],  a complaint was made regarding the illegal construction in Goa. It was being done by a person of foreign nationality. The maintainability of the case was challenged even before the decision came. There were two objections raised in this case, they were:

  • The person has no locus standi in the matter as she was not from India and thus he cannot file the petition before the tribunal under Article 21 of the constitution because she has not been given any of these rights as a non-citizen.
  • The matter was barred by the limitation law and should be dismissed. The case was initiated in Goa but was then transferred to the National Green Tribunal.

The tribunal disagreed from the first objection in the case. The scope of Article 21 should not be narrowed. The court held that even if the complainant was not Indian then also the application was maintainable. A foreigner national can also approach the National Green Tribunal.

In Almitra H. Patel & Ors. vs. Union of India and Ors.[2], Mrs. Amrita Patel had filed a PIL under Article 32 of the Constitution in which the petitioner sought the urgent improvement in the practices followed for the treatment of solid waste or garbage in India. The tribunal considered it one of the major problems faced by India over the last few years as lakh tonnes of garbage go without proper treatment and just dumped outside the city in the outskirts.

The tribunal noted the requirement to solve this problem and make it a source of power for the benefit of society. After hearing the case the tribunal issued over 25 directions. The tribunal asked all the states and UTs to strictly follow and implement the Solid Management Rules, 2016. A complete prohibition on open burning of waste on lands was made after the case.

In Samit Mehta vs. Union of India and Ors., an environmentalist filed an application regarding the damage caused by the sinking of a ship which was carrying coal, fuel oil and diesel. Due to the sinking, a thick oil layer was formed on the surface of the sea which caused damage to the marine ecosystem. The tribunal was of the view that negligence could be attributed to some of the respondents and they had not adhered to the pre-voyage principles. In this case ‘Polluter Pays’ principle was invoked. 

In Save Mon Region Federation and Ors. vs. Union of India and Ors., an organization named Save Mon Region Federation filed an appeal along with a social activist for the clearance given to a hydro project worth INR 6,400 crore. The project was close to a wintering site for a bird Black-necked Crane, which is included under Schedule I species under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. It also comes under the ‘Threatened Birds of India’ literature by the appellants in this case.

It also had other endangered species such as the red panda, snow leopard, etc. The tribunal gave orders to suspend the clearance for the project. It also directed the EAC to make a new proposal for environmental clearance. The tribunal also directed the Ministry of Environment and Forest in the country to prepare a study on the protection of the bird involved in the case.

In the case of Srinagar Bandh Aapda Sangharsh Samiti & Anr. v. Alaknanda hydro Power Co. Ltd. & Ors., the principle of no-fault liability got invoked. In this judgement, the NGT relied on the ‘polluter pays’ principle and made a private entity liable to pay compensation. They were made the subjects to a code of environmental jurisprudence.

Criticism of National Green Tribunal

As soon as the NGT came into action after October 2010 it got stuck in number of controversies. The first criticism it faces is that it lacks judicial independence from the government. The rules of the NGT act allowed the bureaucrats to be appointed to the tribunal while holding their post in the government. This is problematic in the sense that a government official will never rule against the government because he is also a part of government and faces various kinds of pressure to not to rule against the central government.

The concept of Tribunals is in itself problematic as they are funded by the parent ministry and hence it exercises control over the tribunal and its decisions. The need for experts in the tribunal is also problematic concept because the NGT has to decide the question of law and does not have to do fact-finding.

The expert knowledge is not needed in granting compensation or awarding punishment. For this there needs to be a knowledge of law. The Indian evidence act provides specifically for the statement of expert witness in cases where some special knowledge is required than what is the need for appointing experts in the tribunal itself.[8]

The tribunal also faces a lack of resources for its proper functioning. The NGT was operating from a guest house earlier. Also the members of the tribunal were not given houses and were living in government guest house. The funds were decreased further without taking into consideration the fact that NGT is already suffering from lack of adequate funding.

The law commission report on the environmental courts suggested that one such court should be established in every state. But the NGT has only 5 benches. This has created problem for common citizens asking for justice as it is difficult to approach a court which is in a different state and far from their home.

The establishment of NGT also took away the right of civil courts to admit cases regarding environmental issues. So it is now compulsory to file the case before the NGT in these cases. Now even a PIL cannot be filed in the High Court of the state for environmental issues as all environmental litigation shall be dealt only by the five benches of NGT. There is a need for environmental tribunal on district bases but present system is not even providing it on state basis.

Conclusion

The fast expansion of Industries and the beginning of developmental activities in the country a large number of environmental issues have begun to come up. There are a number of instances in which these human activities have caused damage to the environment which in some cases cannot be recovered.

India is one of the nations in the world who give a high amount of importance to environmental conservation and its protection. There are already a number of legislations which have been passed by the Parliament to deal with the environment and forest conservation and their protection. The Green Tribunal adds another feather to this by specifically dealing with environmental issues.

There have been other such bodies like the NEAA and NETA which have failed to serve the purpose for which they were established but it will be unfair to compare them to the Green Tribunal. Failures committed in the past must not stop us from moving forward to new future beginnings.

For a country that has faced one of the world’s most horrifying industrial disasters i.e. the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, the setting up of a body like the National Green Tribunal obviously seems to be a brilliant idea. The critics of the Tribunal fear that it is going to deliver more of the same. 

Although, the Act is still facing a lot of criticism, yet its basic framework appears reassuring and it is hard to say that it is not the step in the right direction. It would evoke the much-needed reform within the method the courts contend with environmental problems and additionally the method individuals understand environmental harm.

With the introduction of a system that supports and encourages environmental justice, the inexperienced assembly shall create the Indian nation a task model for its neighbouring nations of South-East Asia.

To know more about, Role of NGT in Indian Judiciary please Click Here.

 

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References

[1]186Th Report on Proposal to Constitute Environment Courts.

[2] SLP (civil) No(s). 12065/2009

[3] Section 5, national green tribunal act, 2010

[4] Section 18(2), national green tribunal act, 2010

[5] Citizens welfare forum v. union of India(1996) 5 SCC 647

[6] Section 19(3), national green tribunal act, 2010

[7] http://www.conservationindia.org/resources/ngt, last accessed 12/9/2015 at AM10.30

[8] http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/law-of-the-jungle/article5244600.ece, last accessed 12/9/2015 at AM10.30

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Is crowdfunding legal in India?

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crowdfunding

What are the crowdfunding laws in India? Is it even legal? This article is written by Eklavya Malvai, 4th Year, B.A.LL.B (Hons.), Amity Law School, Noida and Debottam Chattopadhyay, 4th Year,B.A. LL.B(Hons.), School of Law, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar.

  1. WHAT IS CROWDFUNDING-AN INTRODUCTION?

According to the SEBI Consultation Paper on Crowdfunding in India[1]

“Crowdfunding is solicitation of funds (small amount) from multiple investors through a web-based platform or social networking site for a specific project, business venture or social cause.”

Therefore crowdfunding is a method by which small amounts can be raised from multiple investors through various modes such as social networking sites for e.g. Facebook or Twitter and for a particular project which is generally a movie or a music album or even a business venture, etc.  In the Indian perspective several sectors and the Small and Medium Enterprises may in particular benefit strongly and significantly for particular micro-scale ventures by going to small investors by raising money through crowdfunding.

Types of crowdfunding include Donation Crowdfunding, Equity Crowdfunding, etc. and shall be discussed in depth in subsequent portions.

  1. THE CONCEPT OF CROWDFUNDING: TYPES AND MODELS

When starting a business, one needs to weigh the various options and filter out the best alternatives that would suit his/her business and the type of activities one wants to carry out, the amount of capital one requires and the amount of liability one wants to incur. Starting up a business is a risky option with no sure shot returns which makes it averse to risk and low returns. Hence, one needs to adopt the next best alternative. Let us discuss the various types and models of crowdfunding as a concept;

There are primarily 4 types of crowdfunding models which have recently come into practice,

  1. Donation Based Crowdfunding: As the name suggests, it is a form of crowdfunding where funds are raised via public campaigns and outreach programmes, eg, raising funds for a private scholarship by an individual. This option usually does not provide any kind of returns to the ‘investors’ and hence is done voluntarily without any formal documentation or collateral. This option might not be really viable in the long term due to its non-rewarding nature unless done for a public purpose which reaps benefit for the society as a whole.
  2. Rewards Based Model: Type of crowdfunding that provides a certain attraction to its investors, tangible or intangible, varying from services provided to goods offered. This option also is considered as not very rewarding as it does not provide any equity options for the investors where they can reap a long term reward, though the kind of rewards proposed to the investors by targeting their intent of investment and fulfilment other than giving equity returns. Reward based crowdfunding is an option that needs to be explored further on and expanded further on what it can offer.
  3. Equity Model: Funding where investors are made partakers of the equity and profit earned by the business. For any investor, return on investment is the basic criteria. Equity ownership brings confidence in terms of decision making, security of funds and accountability.
  4. Lending Model: Parallel to the model of raising equity by debt, where money can be raised by taking loans from various investors by offering something in addition to the interest on the loan, eg, profit sharing during the period of investment, which can be set out in the terms of agreement. This model involves high risk, as start-ups may not be able to afford such loans at a high rate of interest, and repayment of the loan may result into bad debts in case of failure of business. But, on the otherhand, the lending model in any business is the first hand option.

Equity and reward based crowfunding are to areas which must be closely observed and studied, as both provide a certain sense of return to the investor. Combining equity plus reward based structures can immensely go a long way in attracting an investor, since in the current day scenario, one is always looking to get rewarded for what he has invested, where donation based structure starts to fade out.

  1. CROWDFUNDING ACROSS THE GLOBE

Crowdfunding across the globe has recently taken the limelight with a lot of multi-million companies which have taken the recourse to crowdfunding for their various ventures. Companies like ‘GE’ have set forth a large crowdfunding model and have partnered with  “Local Motors” to develop “FirstBuild”, a website which connects engineers to manufacturers and have successfully raised $2.5 Million.

Crowdfunding as a model has been assessed to raise small amounts of money from a pool of large amount of investors wanting to invest their money in projects giving them high returns. The model has come under the B2C model, connecting businesses directly to consumers willing to invest their monies, without any intermediaries and complications.

The precursor to raising any investment via crowdfunding is an appropriate and attractive crowdfunding campaign, which requires public funding, usually done by close relatives, family and friends, which attract around 25-40% first hand investments. Social media in the recent times has played an important role in the recent times and has left an indelible impact on people’s lifestyle. It has been successful in connecting people across various time zones and access to knowledge and ideologies.

There are various business groups in the recent times that have come up, connecting the investor to the start-up owners requiring finance.  Crowdfunding also comes with a pertinent question of “liability”, since it’s a third party method of funding, largely unregulated, hence leaving this question open ended.

The UK legal sector has seen a steady increase in third-party funding over the last few years. A number of factors have contributed towards this increase including the following: the ‘Arkin cap’ established in the case of Arkin v Borchard Lines Ltd and others [2], which limited a third-party funder’s costs liability to the level of its contribution; support for third-party funding from the judiciary, particularly from Lord Justice Jackson; demand from lawyers and clients for alternative means of funding commercial cases; and lucrative returns available to third-party funders.[3]

With a large number of investors, determining liability becomes an imperative area of contention, since crowdfunding provides less or no scope of return to its investors, hence questioning the prospect of liability as mentioned in the case discussed above.

In order to make this more regulate, the US security and Exchange Commission (SEC) have laid down some guidelines for regulating crowdfinding detailed out in their “A+”  factsheet which are as follows:[4]

  1. Tier 1, which would consist of securities offerings of up to $20 million in a 12-month period, with not more than $6 million in offers by selling security-holders that are affiliates of the issuer.
  2. Tier 2, which would consist of securities offerings of up to $50 million in a 12-month period, with not more than $15 million in offers by selling security-holders that are affiliates of the issuer.

  1. CROWDFUNDING FOR MEDIUM AND SMALL ENTERPRISES (MSME)

Crowdfunding as we all know, is suitable for small enterprises, paving their way into the market and looking to raise investments.  The MSME sector consists of medium, small and micro enterprises which usually raise funds by tapping the share market and raise their funds from the public sector.

Recently, the European Commission came out with a communication exploring potential risks of this relatively new and growing form of finance.

Access to finance is one of the most pressing problems for SMEs who report a deterioration in public financial support (-13%), access to loans (‑11%), trade credit (-4%) and the willingness of investors to invest in equity (-1%). Many projects’ demand for financing is not met by any existing sources of finance, which is referred to generally as the financing gap. Some segments of the economy, such as social enterprises or the cultural and creative sector, do not find many responses tailored to their needs, due to their specific characteristics including social objectives or the dependence on intangible assets and the high uncertainty of market demand.  Crowdfunding matches small – or even bigger – contributors and investors directly with the projects in need of funds, mainly in the early stages.[5]

Crowdfunding not only has a singular aspect of funding, but also attracting and encouraging inventions, market analysis of what the consumer requires and acquiring of essential market knowledge and skill sets required to start a business. It brings about community funding which is necessary for job development and community building as well, which is rather a substantive way of encouraging the process of learning.

This alternative route of raising finance has come about as a ‘funding escalator’, giving a jump start to business persons to raise finance.

  1. CROWDFUNDING: ISSUES AND PROSPECTS

    Issues

Certain types of crowdfunding such as Pure Donation Based Crowdfunding and Peer-to-Peer lending do not fall within the regulatory purview of SEBI, as they do not generally involve issuance of securities for financial return, and may require authorization from other regulators. For example, Peer-to-Peer lending may fall under the purview of Reserve Bank of India. The Reserve Bank of India is yet to bring about any circulars to give clarity to such P2P lending though it has acknowledged the important role it can play in the context of changing financial markets in the Financial Stability Report dated June 26, 2014.[6] Therefore, while equity and security related crowdfunding will be governed by SEBI, lending based crowdfunding will be governed by RBI. For Pure Donation Based Crowdfunding statutes like Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 2010 may also come into play.  The major issue will be if a crowdfunding by more than fifty people in the form of equity crowdfunding will amount to public offer under Companies Act, 2013 and SEBI (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2009 or not? If the answer by regulators is in the affirmative it will needlessly make the process complicated and cumbersome for start-ups.  The process more than anything else will make crowdfunding an expensive and complicated affair due to the requirement of appointing merchant bankers, underwriters and registrars to the issue. The issue will deter and impede economic growth as most entrepreneurs’ will want to avoid these legal complications for early stage start-ups. The other issue would be that there cannot be any contradictions between these several legislations when they do get notified. A consolidated law to govern crowdfunding will be the manna from heaven to ameliorate the process of funding for start-ups by decreasing legal fees. Another issue will be if internet service providers who facilitate the crowdfunding would be intermediaries regulated by SEBI or not?  This will be something that some internet companies will be closely looking at.

PROSPECTS

 Crowdfunding will be a much needed elixir for star-ups if the regulators manage to keep things uncomplicated. A lot of Section 8 companies (not-for-profit), charitable trusts and NGOs/NPOs can benefit immensely out of crowdfunding if it is extended to them by law. Furthermore, a huge beneficiary will be art and culture related ventures such as movies, music albums, documentaries and theatre production.  While such entities will only be required to comply with say provisions similar to Section 42 of Companies Act (private placement), 2013 yet they will be able raise money from hundreds of persons like a public issue.  Further, to safeguard the interest of investors only such investors will be allowed to invest who can are able to bear the risk involved and by entities which have a clean track record.

  1. CONCLUSION

The biggest challenge for regulators will be forming a comprehensive legal framework for all types of crowdfunding, so that there is no contradiction or ambivalence among several Regulators. It is also a great need for the hour to have expedited legislation on this matter to give clarity to those who are already crowdfunding their ventures. Further, there is a need to assess if at all crowdfunding requires the sudden attention that it is receiving given the impact of other sources of raising funds like the SME Platforms in Stock Exchanges, Private Placements, Angel Funding and  Alternative Investment Funds or will it become a proverbial “storm in the teacup”.  Consequently, the SEBI and RBI should assess the needs of the stakeholders and bring out some clarity to what the future holds for Crowdfunding in India.

[1]SEBI (2014), “Consultation Paper on Crowdfunding in India”, June17, 2014. (http://www.sebi.gov.in/cms/sebi_data/attachdocs/1403005615257.pdf)

[2] [2005] EWCA Civ 655

[3] http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/law/practice-points/litigation-crowdfunding/5048431.fullarticle

[4] http://www.sec.gov/news/pressrelease/2015-49.html

[5] http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52014DC0172

[6]RBI (2014) ,”Financial Stability Report”,June 26,2014

(https://rbi.org.in/scripts/PublicationReportDetails.aspx?UrlPage=&ID=792)

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Do Employers Need Institutional Blogging Policy for Employees?

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Ramanuj
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Do Employers Need Institutional Blogging Policy for Employees? A Case Study Of The Wipro Blogging Policy

This article is being republished from A First Taste of Law which has now shut down.

A Case Study Of The Wipro Blogging Policy

It’s not just Shashi Tharoor. There are other tech-savvy people who are making lots of comments on social media that they probably should not. At least that is what their employers think.
Infosys was forced to come up with an Online Media Policy as employees were reported to be discussing client details on Facebook and Twitter. Wipro recently launched a blogging policy for its employees. If you are an employee, you would want to know if this is legal, and to what extent it binds you. If you are an employer, probably you are wondering if you should have such a policy too, after all a lot of your employees seem to be very active on Facebook and Orkut! From the perspective of a lawyer, it is interesting to analyze this issue from both the angles and heck, that’s why I am writing this post so early in the morning.
If you are an employee, there isn’t much to worry. You probably already signed an employment contract which has a confidentiality clause, and that would cover discussing any confidential client details outside the organization anyway. However, it is unlikely that discussing work conditions, or bad HR managers will qualify under the same head. Does discussing these things in public damage the reputation of the employer? In all probability, yes. Naturally this is another major concern that these policies seek to address. Are these policies legally effective? I am afraid not much.
Truth is a complete defence to defamation, and courts and government are likely to side with employees freedom of expression should the occasion arise, and in a human resource intensive industry with high rate of attrition such as the Indian hi-tech industry, a company is unlikely to risk the stigma. Legal enforcement is next to impossible, but the employers may still be able to convince the employees to fall in line where the rules or policies are a bit reasonable.
To get deeper into this issue, let’s look at the Wipro policy that they have announced on their official blog.
BLG.1.1 If there is reasonable doubt on the sensitivity of information that would be posted, you must seek written consent from your managers or such competent authorities (TED/HR/Legal team) prior to such posting.
This is one of those sufficiently vague clauses that make you apprehensive about what you are going to say – the intended effect is arm-twisting into inaction. Who’s the fool who may consider a material sensitive enough and still go seek permission of HR or legal team? And who is the person who will risk giving such permission in a huge organization like Wipro? Plus, what is sensitive?

Setting aside the practicality of the clause, legally speaking there’s not much effect. But that is not the point anyway. Who’s going to sue employees?

BLG.1.2 You must think of the consequences of posting any content prior to actually posting on the blog especially while writing comments related to the Organization / Competition / Customers / Business Partners / General Public.
Again, very general and no legal effect. Content related to the Organization / Competition / Customers / Business Partners / General Public covers all conceivable topics in the world.

BLG.1.3 You must not refer or post any Wipro/Customer specific references like email addresses, logo, trademark information….
This must be already covered by the employment contract of the employees already, just another occasion to remind them of the confidentiality I guess.

More interesting of the lot is this:
BLG.1.5 You must not use blogging sites (including the posting of information) for any unauthorized purposes targeting Wipro colleagues and other general public in areas…

The clause goes on to prohibit defamation, racial or sexual slur etc. Well, illegal acts are already illegal, but what is added is that in case you are making an allegation which happens to be true (even if well known) against another employee, that could mean violation of these policies, if the company wishes to interpret the clause in that way.

BLG.1.6 Wipro reserves the right to monitor online blogs and interfere legally, if necessary, considering any content posting which is not in compliance with the policy.
This probably brings up the most controversial legal issue. To what extent can an employer monitor the activities of an employee? Is it justified to monitor the official email account? What about personal email account used at work from time to time to check personal mail? Different answers have been given by US courts to these questions, and obviously, anyone in India is yet to file cases about these issues. However, whether the employer can go to the extent of monitoring what an employee is writing on his personal blog or his friend’s Facebook wall from home when he is not working, is an area of law which is undecided in India. One these issues are taken up, either by a court or the legislature, I don’t see companies being allowed to monitor the employees in an unbridled fashion. Well, privacy law will take a while to develop.

These are more or less the clauses with some bite, and the rest just fill up the page. I am yet to come across the Infosys guidelines anywhere.

If you are an employer considering whether you should adopt similar policies for your employees, I will say it makes sense, not because it’s going to make a big difference as far as legal concerns go, but just to remind your employees to be responsible for their action on online spaces.

Nevertheless, your legal position will get a boost in two ways if you adopt a similar policy (get someone to draft it better, of course):
1. In case someone ends up suing you for actions of your employee (such as defamation or breach of confidentiality), you would be able to show you have taken reasonable care by adopting and implementing a prudent policy.
2. Violation of these policies can lead to a justifiable disciplinary action. You should have a clause in the employment contract itself stating that official policies of the company must be followed by the employee. Failure to comply therefore will justify a disciplinary action. Not writing the policy down in the paper may cause unnecessary hassles (such as legal challenges to the procedure) when you try to institute an action.

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Some Questions I Ask Before I Hire Someone For My Startup

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Ramanuj
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Some Questions I Ask Before I Hire Someone For My Startup

This article is being republished from A First Taste of Law.

At iPleaders, we are at a crucial stage of beginning. We have just hired some nice office space in South Delhi where we can have 7-8 of us working at a time. We also need to hire about 2-3 people immediately. Hence, we have been on a hunt for the right kind of people. This is of course our first hiring experience (we did hire people earlier from within friends).

We have spoken to several people – and now I have kind of grown a sense of what I really want a potential colleague to demonstrate. I may be utterly wrong in my approach, but apart from looking at a person’s skills, I also want to see if they will help us to create the right kind of work environment at iPleaders. I have been asking the following questions – do read them, think and jot down how you would answer them, and maybe also share your opinion on whether they are effective. We are listening!

What is more important: long term or short term? Why?

Money or relationships? Why?

Is criticism good? How do people respond to your criticism?

What do you understand by work ethics?

How often do you learn something new? From what sources do you learn new things? Tell me about three important things you have learned recently.

You have made a mistake. No one else knows yet. Now what will you do?

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Diary of a 20 Something: 22 Things As I Turn 22

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Diary of a 20 Something: 22 Things As I Turn 22

By Srishti Aishwarya, from archives of A First Taste of Law, which has now been shut down.

In a matter of days, I’m going to turn 22. I’m not telling the exact days in order to sound a bit modest. I feel like I’m already 40, though somewhere in the hindsight I feel that my 40-year-old self would laugh over this claim of 20- Something me. Anyway here are a few words of wisdom (or that is what I would like to think) from this Twenty- Something.

  1.  Teenagers are kids
  2. College gets boring towards the end.
  3. The biggest challenge in life is to find money and man (woman if you belong to the other gender).
  4. People would laugh at you if you believe in true love or fairy tales. Apparently these two are almost synonymous.
  5. Drawing from last point, finding a guy/ girl who loves you and is willing to marry you is equivalent to finding a sea in the middle of the Thar desert.
  6. Thinking of doing what you dream of doing isn’t that realistic.
  7. Devdas wasn’t that wrong after all. Drinking does help to at least forget your problems.
  8. In all probability, you would try meditating and other self-help technique at this age.
  9. There is nothing more painful than an empty wallet which is the case way too often.
  10. Crying is kiddish and for teenagers.
  11. If you are with your girlfriends, in all probability you are having All-Men-are-Bastard chatter going on.
  12. You end up talking about settling down once in a while.
  13. Life isn’t all that hunky dory and well there are responsibilities to take care of as you grow up. You really need a roof on your head and food to eat and a bloody job for that.
  14. Your parents really don’t understand what’s going on in your life.
  15. You are sick and tired of thinking over your life again and again.
  16. The word career and a question concerned with life five years down the line is scary or uncertain.
  17. Going on random dates doesn’t sound all that cool.
  18. There are times when you really wish to go back to being a kid.
  19. It feels too weird to realize that more than two decades have passed since you were born.
  20. Being sweet sixteen and the hype about it seems like the thing of yesteryear years.
  21. You have started believing in the 30s being the new 20s.
  22. Last but not the least, clapping over the fact that your birthday is approaching isn’t considered sweet or cool or attributable to any nice objective.
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What are other people saying about you and why superheroes wear masks

By
Ramanuj
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0
Do You Try to Eavesrop And Try to Figure Out What People Are Saying About You?

Do You Try to Eavesrop And Try to Figure Out What People Are Saying About You?

Many of us spend a lot of our time and life trying to figure out what other people think of us and say about us. It is why people take frivolous personality quizzes, run elaborate gossip rackets, read glossy magazines and even run for elections.

We want to look good in front of others, and we want to find out if the effort we put in everyday is paying off. It is a very strong urge.

It makes us feel good to be acknowledged and appreciated. It sometimes shatters us when we don’t get acknowledged. This is a major reason why people often allow others to make them happy or unhappy.

Almost every human being has to make a decision from time to time if they will let their actions be determined by approval and disapproval, appreciation and censure of other people. And it is a dillemma almost every time.

The pragmatic benefit of knowing what other people are thinking about you

There is a value in what people think of you and say about you. It reflects the perception of an entire community most of the time, to which the concerned person and you both belong. Your various communities (such as family, co-workers, neighbours, people of your town or village etc) often decide how effective you will be – in life, in profession, in pursuit of your dreams and passions.

This is why politicians have to carefully curate their public perception – perception of the community that matters to them – their voters. Similarly, lawyers, accountants, bankers and other such professionals also carefully tend to curate their image with their clients and are very careful to protect the same.

To pay attention to a community’s perception of you and taking it as a feedback can be a greatly beneficial exercise. This is why approval ratings for the US President exists. High approval ratings may mean that a President can push through a rather unpopular reform, so it is clearly an useful thing.

The mirage of public perception is a great distractor

We all know the wise fables that suggest that only fools try to please everyone. Trying to curate public perception often leads to frustrating attempts to please everyone,  which often make people very ineffective as leaders, executioners or ideologues. This could be a reason why politicians are rarely loved by the masses despite all their efforts to look good, and are even rarely effective.

What is popular is often not what is right, or what is most necessary.

Its not only politicians, even the most unremarkable people with no public interface are victim to this. Most people are absolutely protective of their self image. They will go to great extent to enhance and protect their public image, which in term buttresses their self-worth. In pursuit of public perception, sometimes which involves perception of just one individual who is present before you at the moment, people do things that they don’t want to do and worse, don’t do things they want to do.

For instance, there are many people out there who are unable to ask for the money they have lent to a friend, lest they are judged negatively. Many people fear to compete with others openly lest they lose the support of a group. Some people fear to excel because they are afraid that would mean earning jealousy and breaking ranks from their mediocre friends.

Trying to look good in front of others can be a dangerous pursuit, it can ruin even best of the people.

Why do superheroes wear masks? 

masked hero

Quite a puzzle. Perhaps every human being who aspires to be a leader is faced with this dilemma that need to maintain a public perception throws up. Perhaps this is why many a superheroes are masked, or hide their real identity – to be free from the burden of appreciation and censure from masses that they don’t know, control or even understand.

What will you do? What do you already do in this area of your life?

How to get started

It is important to find out the brutal truth about what the communities in your life think about you. This gives us a great starting point. Once you know what a community thinks of you, its a great starting point to transformation of that perception.

However, what is sometimes counterintuitive and gets missed is that more important than you knowing is the event of the people from the community telling you without malice what they think of you, and you listening to it without reacting and creating a positive experience out of the whole thing.

It is important to create a space where the other person, who is from the same community, can really tell you what the community thinks of you, without feeling that you are going to judge him for holding that view, or that you will be negatively affected by the sharing. It takes emotional security on both side of the table to have an effective conversation of this nature. While listening, we must not start to explain ourselves or tell them why the views of the community are wrong or invalid. Good, patient hearing, coupled with fresh promises that are delivered as expected always transform such group-think, and the community may thereafter relate to you as a new person altogether.

Why people will not tell you what they think of you

It is not easy to find out what other people really say about you when you are not around, because those same people care about your appreciation and censure. If not yours, they care about appreciation and censure from people around them generally, just like you, and that is why it is difficult for them to tell you exactly what they think of you. It takes some amount of mastery to get them really talk to you openly about this subject. With practice and patience it becomes easier.

Why do people cook up stories about you?

While by default people are unwilling to talk about you on your face, sometimes even reluctant to acknowledge if not censure, they seem to be much happier talking about you behind your back! Isn’t that a mysterious contradiction? You hear people cooking up stories about you and your best friend and how you were found making out. And how the pigs fly and how the ants are of the size of an elephant.

Everyone who knows you is going to have an opinion about you. Many who have no clue about you are likely to have an even stronger opinion about you. Those who meet you would form their opinion of you based on what they felt or experienced. Many people who have never really got to know you, form their opinion about you based on others narratives. False but colourful narratives are often stronger and more attractive than truthful and boring ones.

People will judge you every minute and it’s up to you if you want to stand as a victim in their court.

It is always a good idea to use public perception as a tool for getting valuable feedback and to cultivate it so that your leadership is effective. However, it is just a tool, like many others. Connecting your self worth to it is a recipe for disaster.

 

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Notes on Hacking

By
Ramanuj
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0
Notes on Hacking

This article is being republished from A First Taste of Law.

I have used the term hacking quite often, and not always in the strictest sense that most people are comfortable with. Two of iPleaders’ properties are named CLAThacker and BarHacker.

There are computer geeks who will not agree that anyone other than a coder can be called a hacker.

There are lawyers and teachers who are upset due to the use of the word. They think we are teaching people shortcuts to pass exams. They seem to think that your teachers have asked you to read big fat textbooks which will make a great lawyer out of you, but we are giving you easy digests to read so the system is not working.

Other people still think that hacking is a crime and hackers are denizens of darkness.

Hence, I think it is high time to explain our stand on what is hacking.

According to us, hacking is finding new, easy, systematic solutions to sticky, difficult problems. Where other people are using hammers, it is a reminder to those willing to listen that using the brain will be better. Hacking is an attitude of attacking problems with intelligence. While study hacking may make things simpler, or sometimes provide a better roadmap, students still need to do the work themselves.

The hacking involved here is coming up with drastically improved processes for exam taking and learning. The learning still has to take place. This is not like consuming an aspirin. Despite a hack being used by everyone when it comes to studying and taking exams, the results can drastically vary depending on the student’s ability and effort.

While hacking may make a goal more achievable, it also teaches a person to be incredibly efficient and effective. I think in a country like India, we should all aspire to become hackers.

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The End Of News As You Knew And What It means For You

By
Ramanuj
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0

 

The-end-of-news-as-you-knew

This article was originally published in A First Taste of Law.

“India’s media barons are no longer in the news business, but news is unavoidable: after all, you do need something to fill the space between the ads, and must dupe enough consumers into picking up your ‘newspaper’ (or tuning into your ‘news’ channel), else your real customers—advertisers—will not be interested. So ‘news’ today is sleight of hand: paid news by politicians, private treaties with advertisers, celebrity coverage for a fee, PR feeds masquerading as reportage, the business story slanted to serve the stock market, the deserving story not done. Alongside, since the Sensex must never fall, the tone is frothy, jingoistic and feel-good so as to keep the middle classes in permanent chest-thumping and optimistic mode. When—surprise, surprise—reality strikes and an inconvenient aspect of India shows up, then news coverage either reduces it to political sensation or morphs to orchestrate middle-class outrage. Investigation and expose, when it happens, is because someone had a score to settle.”

– Sumir Lal, in an article titled “Why I Quit The Media” in a Special Issue of Outlook India on Media in Crisis

Well, to be honest, I find it difficult to read newspapers or watch news channels – the effort to reward ratio is just not worth it. There is too much repetition, useless banter and nonsense – news and insights are diluted, simplified, very often insulting to anyone’s intelligence – and there is hardly any point in reading newspapers when you can keep yourself updated about things you are interested is through feeds and newsletters which are free, conveniently delivered to the mailbox or desktop. Reading a newspaper has become a pointless luxury that I do not need anymore.

It is still necessary for a lot of people to get their daily dose of ‘news’ – which is mostly crime-based gossip or some sort of sensationalized news coverage – you get the mainstream news and opinion served with all the commercial propaganda and bias. But be clear when you read a newspaper that it is entertainment, like cricket, packed with advertisements even where you are not expecting them. Like the page on the financial news which is targeted at creating a mass euphoria to sustain rallies in the stock market.

So what is the future of real journalism?

Of thorough research and investigative reporting? Well, there has always been a market for it – but as time has passed, the delivery medium, level of specialisation, target audience – everything has changed for serious news.

The rise of super-speciality media:

Internet and mobile have made access to news ubiquitous and instantaneous. And awesomely cheap – no paper, ink, machinery or workforce to operate the same is needed anymore. This is the age of desktop publishing – and citizen journalism. Publishing news to an audience of an unrestricted size is now made possible by technology. It is so cheap that it is not necessary to charge the reader for the news.

So there are people out there providing more specialised news than you ever thought possible. Traditional big media is failing to serve the hunger for news of a new breed of intelligent readers with its over-commercialised content – and the beneficiary of this is a new age super-specialised media. In the legal domain itself – there’s LegallyIndia and Bar and Bench providing you super-specialised news that a traditional newspaper may never touch. You have Rawoctopus that actually provides law school and internship news – another super-specialised niche. There are tons of other lawyer focused news providers in the US and the UK as well. The same applies to MBAs, and doctors, venture capitalists or investment bankers. And all these get eyeballs – for these are more intelligent, more relevant news than most of what Times of India brings to you.

Have your news pushed to you:

The other important aspect is the pushing of content as opposed to seeking out the news. If I am interested in news related to venture capital investments, I have feeds that keep updating me on the news related only to that through SMS, pop-ups, emails or other means that I may like. Our search cost/time-lag for news is almost nothing now – and I need not tolerate hundreds of other news material that I like to get to what I would like to read. And think of it, the scope for advertisement in this is much more limited – you need not lend your eyes anymore to get free news! This is a revolution – at least for those of us who have managed to harness the technology to stay up to date on what we want to know. For many of us, newspapers and channels may not be very relevant from the news point of view anymore.

Reactions:

A direct fall-out of the rise of super-speciality media is the awareness of the loss of credibility and attention on the part of big media. While they may be able to still attract people with entertainment and good essays and write ups, those channels and newspapers that will succeed less with the commercial formula may pay more attention to traditional ethical journalism to differentiate themselves. It is foreseeable that not every newspaper will do as good as Times of India does by selling inches to everyone from companies to politicians, and those which fall behind in the race may be more willing to play a different game.

Crisis of credibility:

It has been said that big media brings credibility with it. You believe something if you see it in print. Those days, if not already gone, are fast disappearing. A vast number of people are realising the idiocy and emptiness of the mainstream India media. On the other hand, we are finding alternative sources of news, most often from institutions or persons who have high credibility not because of their circulation but track record and image that is built up over time, mostly online. From celebrity bloggers to research institutes, anyone could be a trustworthy source of news, depending on how they have conducted themselves in the past. If you see the feed subscriber count of some of the major bloggers, the influence they wield would be evident. Even undoing of heavyweights takes little time should they slip in the social media world in the age of twitter, online forums and perfect search engines. Naturally, credibility is carefully built and nurtured by various alternative news sources, especially if they are online. Of course, this is good news for the readers!

We shall write another post on how you can control the media instead of letting them screw up your mind!

 

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Of The Rat Race

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Of The Rat Race The Herd Story

This post is written by Abhishek Tripathy, my batch-mate at NUJS, who gloriously cracked UPSC in 2015. This was published in 2013 in A First Taste of Law originally.

Of The Rat Race The Herd Story

The Rat Race:

We have long since stopped being humans, it seems.

The purpose of education is to equip us with options. As I look at it, the idea of “knowledge empowers” is one of liberation from the moribund trail of stereotypes: study, study hard and well, get a job, marry, have kids, grow old, and well, die.

Yet, for the most part of our lives, most of us, stick to the script. As much as we can, as well as we can. But why does life have to be so predictable always?

We try to outrun one another in the professional world, and prove a point. We forget that at the end of the day, we are all (those of us who are in the fray, that is) a part of a grand rat-race. We endeavour big, set our aims very high: social status, money, car, property and the like paraphernalia of ‘success’, as is conventionally perceived. But does it not come at a cost to the other aspects of our lives?

A human personality is a sum total of many parts: artistic, academic, analytical and social. In trying to regiment our very existence into neatly pre-determined cubicles, why do we try to put to an end the other aspects of our being? Our work is one of the many things about our lives. But to most it is the only thing worth living for! Proud workaholics! eh!!

We are often afraid to chart our own course. It’s safe to follow a preset course. Adventure is best had in the movies and books. Life and adventure, if one had a choice to exercise, are antithetical to each other. Why do we fear to tread the course of our dreams? Why does all our thought have to stop at the doorstep of apprehended failures? The fear of the consequences overrides our every other thought. It strangulates our deep seated aspirations, our passions and our cherished dreams.

All courage begins with the sincere desire to pursue our goals, irrespective of the consequences. No courage is bigger than the courage to stand by one’s ideas. No move is bolder than to ceaselessly strive towards fulfilling our dreams. What it takes to be deaf to societal and peer pressure and pursue our objectives with boundless energy and enthusiasm is courage. But then that is a precious commodity which most lack! But, hold-on: a rat-race is hardly ever about appreciating the need to possess it in the first place! Its about out-running the other rats, right?! All that matters is the nibble at the end of the run.

Someone had told me once, that the el-dorado that we seek is within us. If only we are ready to embrace it: fully and unconditionally, that is.

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The Privileges Of Being A Lawyer In Delhi

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The Privileges Of Being A Lawyer In Delhi

This was originally published in A First Taste of Law.

The Privileges Of Being A Lawyer In Delhi

Lovisha Agarwal, a law student from Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies writes about the privileges of being a lawyer in Delhi. I personally think this just scratches the surface, but go ahead, read and leave your comments below to let everyone know what are the real perks! Over to Lovisha.

Delhi, being the capital of India, has a plethora of sui generis courts, tribunals and commissions, which provide an opportunity to the lawyers to practice in varied fields and areas of law. Supreme Court of India, AppellateTribunal for Electricity, Cyber Appellate Tribunal, Competition Appellate Tribunal, Competition Commission of India, National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission and Supreme Court Legal Services Committee are the examples of such bodies which are only situated in Delhi, thereby appropriating a multifariousness of work to be practiced by the lawyers. The Supreme Court of India exercises wide appellate jurisdiction over all Courts and Tribunals in India. Furthermore, it has exclusive original jurisdiction to the disputes between and amongst the central and state government. International Commercial Arbitration, Writ Petitions and Public Interest Litigations can also be initiated directly in the Supreme Court. Apart from this, the Principal benches of most of the tribunals namely Central Administrative tribunal, Armed forces tribunal, Railway Claims Tribunal, National Green Tribunal are located in Delhi having their regional benches in different states. Thus, a lawyer established in Delhi can conveniently practice in all these bodies simultaneously while practicing in the district courts and tribunals. Moreover, it is easier for Delhi’s lawyers to initiate appeals in time against orders of various tribunals and commissions to these appellate bodies without inconvenience. A lawyer specialising in Competition Law, Environmental Law and Constitutional Law has the most extensive opportunities in Delhi owing to Competition Appellate Tribunal, Competition Commission of India, National Green Tribunal and the Supreme Court of India.

NCR has recently been witnessing rapid urbanization and emerging as leading financial and industrial centre. Top law firms of the country like Amarchand & Mangaldas, AZB & Partners, J. Sagar Associates, Luthra & Luthra, etc. have their offices in Delhi. Major policy research centres like The Centre for Policy Research and PRS Legislative Research which are among India’s premier think tanks in public policy are also established in Delhi. Thereby, all these increase the scope of practice and work of all the Civil, Criminal, Corporate and Commercial lawyers practicing in Delhi.

Moreover, all these bodies and the High Court are situated in the New Delhi district within the radius of 34 sq. km. and thus provide a vantage of territorial proximity to lawyers in Delhi as compared to other states where the whole state has a single high court, commutation to which is sometimes highly cumbersome. For instance, a lawyer practicing in Meerut will have to travel a distance of 600kms for initiating an appeal in the Allahabad High Court. This territorial proximity in Delhi, resultantly, accords flexibility to change from one area of practise to another or from district courts to higher courts and diversity of fields which increases the efficacy and efficiency of the lawyer without affecting his already existing client base, the work premises or anything substantial.

Due to this proximity, the litigants from Delhi and outside also prefer engaging Delhi lawyers itself to avoid extravagant fees owing to commutation charges. Hence, increasing the volume of work of Delhi-based lawyers.

Apart from this, the lawyers in Delhi are surrounded by the knowledge hub since most of the major and important legal conferences, seminars and meetings take place in Delhi, attending which updates lawyers with all the developments and changes in the provisions, policies and legislations. It also helps the lawyers in networking and creating their social circles. It is a recognised practice, arguably, that some judges have an entirely distinct attitude towards lawyers on their face value and there is sometimes a bias towards lawyers who appear recurrently in a particular court and have good experience and expertise. The law cannot be practiced in isolation. Networks play a vital role in the same. It helps in creating a good client base, engaging of a senior advocate by a briefing counsel and creating a good rapport between the judges and the lawyers.

Thus, the lawyers in Delhi specialising in any area of law, have an advantage of flexibility, diversity of practice areas, considerable volume of cases, good networks and social circle, and exposure on account of gamut of courts, tribunals, commissions, research centres, industries, conferences, clients and their territorial proximity.

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