February 11, 2026 : The National Green Tribunal has stayed proceedings before an Appellate Authority in a dispute arising out of a closure order involving a Haryana-based society, after finding merit in the applicant’s objection to the manner in which it was impleaded in the case.
Hearing Original Application No. 95/2026, titled Society for Development of Human Resource vs State of Haryana & Ors., a Bench led by Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Expert Member Dr. A. Senthil Vel issued notice to the respondents and granted interim relief on February 10, 2026.
The controversy stems from an appeal filed against a closure order by Parvesh Kumar, who projected himself as the president of the unit or society concerned. The applicant society challenged his locus, claiming there is an internal dispute over leadership. It moved an intervention application before the Appellate Authority seeking dismissal of the appeal.
However, instead of being impleaded as an intervener or respondent, the Appellate Authority added the applicant as a co-appellant by order dated October 1, 2025. The society argued that this was a serious procedural error since its stand is fundamentally different from that of the original appellant. According to the applicant, two parties with conflicting positions cannot be treated as appellants in the same appeal.
The society subsequently filed a recall application before the Appellate Authority challenging the impleadment order. It contended before the Tribunal that instead of deciding the recall plea first, the Appellate Authority fixed both the appeal and the recall application for joint hearing. The applicant argued that this approach could deprive it of the opportunity to separately challenge any adverse order on the recall plea.
Senior counsel appearing for the applicant also informed the Tribunal that a writ petition had earlier been filed before the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The High Court disposed of the matter, observing that the issues fall within the specialized domain of environmental and air or water pollution laws and that an effective statutory remedy was available. The Tribunal permitted the applicant to place the High Court’s order on record.
Taking note of the circumstances, the Tribunal stayed proceedings before the Appellate Authority. However, it clarified that if the Appellate Authority decides the recall application first and then schedules the appeal for a later date, it would be free to proceed in accordance with law.
The Tribunal has listed the matter for further hearing on April 6, 2026. It also allowed the applicant’s plea seeking exemption from filing certain typed and translated documents, subject to the condition that legible copies will be placed on record at the time of final hearing.
Case Reference : Original Application No. 95/2026 (IA No. 87/2026 & IA No. 88/2026), Society for Development of Human Resource vs. State of Haryana & Ors.; for the Applicant: Mr. Vivek K. Tankha, Senior Advocate (through VC), with Mr. Vipul Tiwari, Mr. Inder Dev Singh, Mr. Chaitanya Sharma, Mr. Sujay Chhikara and Ms. Neha Raj Singh, Advocates.
