The NGT has no jurisdiction to deal with coastal aquaculture units, the Madras High Court ruled

The Madras High Court ruled that the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had no jurisdiction to deal with environmental issues related to shrimp hatcheries located in coastal areas as the Coastal Aquaculture Authority (CAA) Act, 2005 was not one of the scheduled laws under the NGT Act, 2010.

However, a Division Bench of Justices Anita Sumanth and C. Kumarappan ruled that instead of the NGT, the Supreme Court itself will suo motu decide whether coastal aquaculture units have to comply with Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ) notifications issued by the Center from time to time or not.

The orders were passed while allowing writ petitions filed by two shrimp hatcheries, one located at Vettuvankeni on East Coast Road in Chennai and another at Marakkanam in Villupuram district. The petitioners were aggrieved by the suo motu order passed by the Chennai NGT bench on 29 September 2022.

Senior counsel V. Raghavachari, appearing for one of the petitioners, submitted that the petitioners are covered by the CAA, which is a complete code in itself that lays down various regulatory measures. He said Parliament had deliberately kept this law outside the NGT’s jurisdiction.

Yet, the NGT Chennai bench suo motu noticed some report in an English daily about the functioning of a shrimp hatchery along the ECR without the permission of the CRZ and issued sweeping directions without giving the hatchery an opportunity to hear, he complained.

He said the NGT, without any basis, ordered that the shrimp hatcheries could not operate without obtaining approval under the CRZ 2011 and 2019 notifications and that they were also required to compensate monetarily for the restoration of the alleged damage to the environment.

The judges agreed with him that the NGT should not have dealt with the issue under the CAA and that it should not have issued sweeping orders without notifying the affected parties. However, they decided that the main issue will now be considered by the High Court itself.

The Bench set aside the NGT’s order dated 29 September 2022 and directed the Supreme Court Registry to number the matter as a suo motu writ petition before placing it before Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari to pass appropriate orders with regard to the listing of the case.

Published – 04 Jun 2026 05:30 IST