Section 31 and Section 32 of the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010
Section 31 deals with the status of the Chairperson, Judicial Members, Expert Members, officers and other employees of the National Green Tribunal as public servants. Section 32 protects specified persons from suits, prosecutions and other legal proceedings for acts done or intended to be done in good faith under the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010, or under rules or orders made under it.
Section 31 - Members and staff of Tribunal to be public servants
Statutory provision: The Chairperson, Judicial Members, Expert Members, officers and other employees of the Tribunal are deemed to be public servants within the meaning of section 21 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.
Section 31 gives a statutory public-servant status to the persons expressly identified in the provision. The section covers the Chairperson, Judicial Members, Expert Members, officers and other employees of the National Green Tribunal.
The expression "deemed to be public servants" is a legal deeming provision. Its function is to treat the persons covered by Section 31 as public servants for the purpose specified by the Act, even though their office or employment may arise under the special institutional framework of the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010.
Meaning of "public servant" after the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023
The text of Section 31 of the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 continues to refer to Section 21 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. The Indian Penal Code was repealed when the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 came into force on 1 July 2024. Under the BNS, the definition of "public servant" is contained in Section 2(28).
Section 358 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita contains repeal and savings provisions. It preserves specified consequences of the repealed IPC and provides that actions taken under the IPC are deemed to have been taken under the corresponding provisions of the BNS. Accordingly, the original wording of Section 31 should be read with the current criminal-law framework and applicable repeal-and-savings provisions.
Section 32 - Protection of action taken in good faith
Section 32(1): Government employees and statutory authorities
Section 32(1) provides that no suit or other legal proceeding shall lie against employees of the Central Government or a State Government, or against any statutory authority, for anything done or intended to be done in good faith in pursuance of the NGT Act or any rule or order made under it.
This sub-section protects the categories specifically named in it where the relevant act is connected with the implementation of the NGT Act, its rules or an order made under the Act, and the act was done or intended to be done in good faith.
Section 32(2): Chairperson, Members and authorised persons
Section 32(2) provides that no suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie against the Chairperson, a Judicial Member, an Expert Member, or another person authorised by the Chairperson, Judicial Member or Expert Member, for anything done or intended to be done in good faith in pursuance of the Act or any rule or order made under it.
Sub-section (2) expressly extends the protection to the Tribunal's Chairperson and Members as well as persons duly authorised by them, subject to the statutory requirement that the relevant act was done or intended to be done in good faith and in pursuance of the Act, a rule, or an order made under it.
Scope and effect of protection under Section 32
Section 32 is not worded as an unrestricted immunity for every act of every person connected with the Tribunal. The statutory protection is tied to two central requirements: the act must be done or intended to be done in good faith, and it must be in pursuance of the NGT Act or a rule or order made under the Act.
The two sub-sections also use different formulations. Section 32(1) refers to a suit or other legal proceeding against the persons and authorities covered by that sub-section. Section 32(2) expressly refers to a suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding against the Chairperson, Members and authorised persons covered by it.
Whether the statutory protection applies in a particular dispute depends on the facts, the capacity in which the person acted, the connection of the act with the NGT Act or rules or orders made under it, and the legal meaning of good faith applicable to the proceeding.
Official legal resources
For the authoritative statutory text and current institutional information, refer to the official India Code portal and the National Green Tribunal website. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and its current definition of public servant may also be verified through India Code.