(Constituted by the Hon'ble
Supreme Court of
Writ Petitions (Civil) Nos. 202/95 & 171/96)
Room No. 106, Paryavaran Bhavan,
CGO Complex,
TeleFax: 4363976
1.0 The Central Empowered Committee (hereinafter referred to as the Committee) has been constituted by the Hon'ble Supreme Court by its order dated 9.5.2002 in Writ Petitions (Civil) Nos. 202/95 & 171/96. In pursuance to para 2 of the said order, the following are nominated to the Central Empowered Committee with the approval of the Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF) and concurrence of the Solicitor General for India / Amicus Curiae in the said cases:
(i) Shri P.V.Jayakrishnan, presently Secretary to the Government of India, MoEF
- Chairman
(ii) Shri N.K.Joshi, Additional Director General of Forests, MoEF - Member (Representative of MoEF)
(iii) Shri Valmik Thapar, Ranthambore Foundation – Member (NGO)
(iv) Shri Mahendra Vyas, Advocate Supreme Court - Member (NGO)
2.0 Shri M.K.Jiwrajka, presently Inspector General of Forests, Ministry
of Environment & Forests shall be the Member Secretary of the Committee.
3.0 The powers and functions of the Committee as per the orders of the
Hon'ble Supreme Court of India are as under:
"(3) Pending interlocutory
application in these two writ petitions as well as the reports and affidavits
filled by the States in response to the orders made by the Court shall be
examined by the Committee, and their recommendations will be placed before
(4) Any individual having any
grievance against any steps taken by the Government or any other authority in purported
compliance with the orders passed by
this Hon'ble Court will be at liberty to move the Committee for seeking
suitable relief. The Committee may
dispose of such applications in conformity with the orders passed by
(5) The Committee shall have the power to:
(a) Call for any documents from
any person or the government of the
(b) Summon any person and receive evidence from such person on oath either on affidavit or otherwise.
(c) Seek assistance / presence of any persons(s) / official(s) required by it in relation to its work.
(6) The Committee may decide its own procedure for dealing with applications and other issues. Union of India shall provide suitable and adequate office accommodation for the Committee. The expenditure incurred on the working of the Committee including salary / remuneration to the extent not payable by the Government) to the members and supporting staff, may be met out of income accruing to the Special Investigation Team (SIT). Necessary procedure for this may be formulated by the Committee in consultation with the SIT.
(7) The Committee is empowered to co-opt one or more persons as its members or as special invitees for dealing with specific issues. While dealing with issues pertaining to a particular State, wherever feasible, the Chief Secretary and Principal Chief Conservator of Forests of the State shall be co-opted as special invitees.
(8) The Committee shall submit
quarterly reports to the
(M.K.Jiwrajka)
Member Secretary
Distribution:
1. Registrar, Supreme Court (attention PIL Cell).
2. Attorney General of
3. Solicitor General for
202/95.
4. Shri P.V.Jayakrishnan, Chairman Central Empowered Committee.
5. Shri N.K.Joshi, Additional Director General of Forests, Ministry of Environment
& Forests & Member, Central Empowered Committee.
6. Shri Valmik Thapar, - Member, Central Empowered Committee.
7. Shri Mahendra Vyas, - Member, Central Empowered Committee.
8. PS to MEF.
9. Secretary, Ministry of Environment
& Forests, Government of
10. Director General of Forests & Special Secretary, MOEF.
11. Chairman High Power Committee for the North-Eastern Region.
12. Chairman Special Investigation Team.
13. All officers of DIG and above level, MoEF.
14. Regional Chief Conservators of Forests, MoEF (all).
15. Secretaries to Government of India (all ministries).
16. Administrators / Chief Secretaries (all States / UTs).
17. Principal Chief Conservators of Forests (all States/ UTs).
18. Secretaries (Forests) (all States / UTs).
This Notification should be given wide publicity & circulated to all concerned.
(M.K.Jiwrajka)
Member Secretary