India's top environmental tribunal is of no use, the Delhi High Court says, adding the body has neither expertise nor infrastructure.

Here are a few samples of how the tribunal, National Environment Appellate Authority (NEAA), has functioned in the past three years.

K Prasad, a former member, made an official trip to Tirupati temple to discuss “disposal of cut hair” on September 16, 2007. He also went to Ahmadnagar to discuss the “disposal of flowers” at the Shirdi temple the same year and to Sahni Signapur temple to “discuss recycling of mustard oil” at the holy place.

His colleague on the tribunal Bench, J C Kala, has a track record of combining business with sports meets. On January 31, 2008, he managed to attend the 16th All India Sports Meet and at the same time discuss “various projects” with Pollution Control Board (PCB) officers at Ahmedabad. This trip was a follow-up of his earlier one on February 6, 2007 to the 15th All India Forests Sports Meet to Jaipur.

This information came out in a PIL filed by environment lawyer Pramod Kumar before the court. The data on the functioning of the NEAA was revealed through a series of RTI applications filed by Vyom Raghuvanshi, a wildlife scientist, in 2008.

NEAA maintained the visits were necessary. “The members took the trips to spread awareness about the National Environment Appellate Authority,” Prasad told The Indian Express. Prasad did 16 “official tours” in the past three years.

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