New Delhi: The Supreme Court Friday gave its forest conservation watchdog body a fresh lease of life in the face of strong opposition from Ministry of Environment and Forests.Ensuring that proper disposal of petitions dealing with violation of laws protecting wildlife habitat continues, the Supreme Court Friday ruled that the assistance of the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) to the Forest Bench be extended indefinitely till further notice.

The court’s ruling was in response to the Centre’s affidavit filed on September 6 seeking the termination of the CEC. The CEC was constituted by the Supreme Court in 2002.

An application by Amicus Curae, advocate Harish Salve on August 17, 2007 pleaded for the continuation term of the CEC by five years. In response to the application by Advocate Salve, the Centre filed an affidavit to the Supreme Court stating that the Ministry of Environment and Forests has sufficient trained scientific and technical officials, non-official experts and statutory bodies to take care of the environment and forests.

The affidavit filed by the Centre said: “The Ministry is of the view that further continuance of the Central Empowered Committee under Section of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 is not required.” The Centre said it was not agreeable to the extension of the CEC because it was never meant to be an agency appointed under Section 3 of the Act.

The plea of the Attorney General was that the CEC was exceeding its authority. This was countered by the Amicus curie who stated that if any specific instance of the CEC overstepping its authority could be pointed out, he would agree to suitable changes and safeguards. The order was passed by a Bench comprising Justice Pasayat and Justice Kapadia and headed by the Chief Justice.

According to Mr Ashok Kumar, Vice-Chairman of the Wildlife Trust of India, “Violation of laws regarding the sanctity of protected areas and forests is prevalent in most parts of the country. The extension of the CEC’s term comes as a relief as its end would have been a setback to the protection of forests.”