The Madras High Court vacated an interim stay on the appointment of former TN Chief Secretary Girija Vaidyanathan as an expert member of the National Green Tribunal after hearing her counsel who submitted that she was qualified for the post.
The first bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy heard the submissions made in the case and came to the conclusion that the former bureaucrat had the necessary qualification to be appointed as expert member of the NGT.
The court had earlier stayed her appointment citing eligibility issues as the petitioner G. Sundarrajan of Poovulagin Nanbargal stated that the NGT Act mandates that a person should have 15 years of experience including 5 years of dealing with environmental matters either in the central or state government or in a reputed national or state- level institution. The Court after hearing the submissions of the counsel for Girija found that she had the necessary qualifications as she had earlier served as Secretary for environment, Chairman of Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board and also as a bureaucrat where she dealt with environment related issues.