The Supreme Court said that the NGT cannot adjudicate on disputes which are actually related to land use, zoning rules and town-planning rules. Even if such conflicts are shown as concerns related to the environment.
The bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and Sandeep Mehta said that the controversy related to non-compliance of building plan for open and green space and the issue of environment was not a big question before the NGT.
Supreme Court Said that so that the use of its jurisdiction by NGT in this matter can be justified. Rather, the present case involved the disputed claims of the parties related to the irregularities in the use of the land of the Appellant-Ambience Developers, which took place for the construction of a residential colony.
He again said that while the dispute actually pertains to land use, zoning, approval of building plans and compliance with town-planning rules, it is beyond the jurisdiction of the NGT under Section 14 of the NGT Act, 2010.
However, the court found that the main dispute was not about harm to the environment but about the legality of de-licensing and the permission for commercial use of the land under town-planning laws.
The court said that since these issues were already pending in the connected proceedings in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the interference of the NGT was an encroachment of jurisdiction. The judgment written by Justice Mehta, citing Auroville Foundation vs. Navroz Kersap Modi & Ors., 2025 Livelaw (SC) 312, said that the NGT's jurisdiction is limited to "substantial questions relating to the environment" arising out of special laws relating to environmental protection specified in Schedule 1 of the NGT Act.
The bench heard the batch of SLPs that included allegations that Gurugram's Ambience Lagoon Island project had commercial constructions on land originally licensed for residential use and that such development impacts the environment.
Acting on these claims, the NGT had passed interim orders imposing environmental compensation and constituted expert committees to assess the alleged violations. One such committee had also recommended heavy penalties and demolition of some structures.
The court postponed the proceedings before the NGT till the disposal of the case pending before the High Court. No action will be taken now on environmental compensation of Rs 10.33 crore, withholding of 25-50% of the profits, and the possibility of demolishing the commercial complex.
Read this also- Responsibility of dog feeders will be decided. Supreme Court expressed displeasure on Maneka Gandhi's statement in the case of stray dogs.
