National Green Tribunal

Story hook

In November 2014, the National Green Tribunal banned all diesel vehicles older than 10 years from plying in Delhi-NCR. By December 2015, the Tribunal extended the ban to petrol vehicles older than 15 years. Overnight, an estimated 20 lakh vehicles in NCR became illegal. The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers protested. The Delhi government panicked. The Supreme Court was approached. And yet — the order survived.

Three years later, in 2018, the Supreme Court itself adopted the NGT's logic, ordering nationwide enforcement of the BS-VI emission norms by 1 April 2020 (skipping BS-V entirely). For the first time in India's regulatory history, an environmental tribunal had rewritten transport policy in a megacity — and the Apex Court had backed it.

This is the story of three institutions: the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) created in 1974, the State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) created in tandem, and the National Green Tribunal (NGT) established in 2010. Together they form India's environmental enforcement triangle. CPCB makes the rules and standards. SPCBs issue consents and prosecute. NGT adjudicates and frequently goes much further than either — into policy.

This file is about that triangle: how it's structured, what powers each leg has, and the consistent tension between technocratic standard-setting and judicial activism.

Why this matters for UPSC

NGT is a near-certain Prelims question every year (composition, powers, benches, principal bench location). CPCB/SPCB feature in 1-2 Prelims questions per cycle. Mains stems on environmental governance always demand the institutional mapping. Interview boards probe NGT's record — is it overreaching? underperforming? These three institutions are the operational face of every environmental statute, so understanding their roles is foundational to all of GS-III Environment.