The Supreme Court on Monday raised sharp questions over why environmental disputes concerning forests, lakes, reserved areas, and tiger habitats are landing directly before the apex court in the form of interim applications in a decades-old public interest litigation (PIL), bypassing the jurisdiction of high courts.

A bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant, sitting with Justice Joymalya Bagchi, expressed concern that all such matters were being tagged to the 1995 PIL — In Re: T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad — instead of being taken up independently or adjudicated by the respective high courts.

“Why are all forest matters coming to this court,” the CJI asked at the outset, when the bench was informed of yet another application — this time related to the Sukhna Lake in Chandigarh.

Referring

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