Environmental Forensics in India – Four Years after the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010

In India, the traditional approach to deal with environmental pollution had been criminal sanctions. The very strict evidentiary requirements for criminal conviction often resulted in situations where the polluter walked free. The realization of this was manifested in the form the National Green Tribunal Act 2010. The Act established a tribunal for environmental cases alone where the aggrieved can approach for redress in the form compensation as if in a civil court. It was predicted that the formation of the Tribunal will result in the development of the relatively new field of environmental forensics in India. This is because; both the contending parties will have to prove their claim in the Tribunal for which they will require the help of environmental forensic experts. This study analysed the role of the Tribunal as a driver of environmental forensics in India. More than 100 cases decided by the Tribunal, in the past more than four years, were analyzed as part of the study. It was seen that the major proportion of the cases that came before the tribunal was regarding the environmental clearances given to projects by the Central and State Governments. But, there were also cases where expert opinion was relied upon to decide the compensation. Thus, even though the influence of the Tribunal has not been very profound so far, it did help in improving the stature of environmental forensics in India. Making the people aware of the provisions of the National Tribunal Act, 2010 and preparing a standard protocol for environmental forensic investigations can help improve the situation further for environmental forensics in India.