Rushikonda Tourism Case: SC Quashes Proceedings Before NGT

The Supreme Court on Wednesday quashed the National Green Tribunal (NGT) stay order proceedings which halted the construction works in the Rushikonda Tourism project case and stated that orders of the High Court would prevail over Tribunals in case of contradicting orders passed by the High Court and NGT. To preserve the environment for future generations and ecology, we allow the parties to move the High Court which may take a fresh call on the issue and issue necessary directions, the bench said.

A bench comprising Justice BR Gavai and Justice Hima Kohli was considering the State of Andhra Pradesh Government's plea against NGT orders which had come up for hearing. The bench has directed the parties to move to the High Court for appropriate orders.

The contradicting orders of the High Court and the NGT would lead to confusion as authorities wouldn't know which order to follow it stated. In such a case orders from Constitutional court would prevail over statutory tribunals," the bench stated.

Construction should be carried out on the flat area where the earlier resort was existing and was later demolished. But no construction should be done on the excavated area, it said.

Taking a serious note of the respondent Narsapuram  MP K Raghu Ramakrishna Raju who filed the petition in the NGT, the court said that this practice of filing such frivolous petition was wasting the courts time. (With inputs from Bar and Bench Twitter)

On Tuesday the bench questioned why the NGT was entertaining letters from Members of Parliament. "We thought that this jurisdiction was available for have-nots and persons who can't approach courts like ordinary citizens and not legislators," the bench observed. The Supreme Court held that only letters written by those who cannot reach the courts should be treated as petitions and not by an MP, and posted the matter for hearing on Wednesday.

Also Read: Supreme Court Finds Fault With NGT Stay Orders On Rushikonda Tourism Project Based On MP's Letter